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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044630">Broken of Sanity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamCatcherofLight/pseuds/DreamCatcherofLight'>DreamCatcherofLight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Don't Like Don't Read, Drinking, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Fucked Up, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, OOC, Original Character Death(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sonilver, Suicide Attempt, Torture, why can't i think of tags</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:01:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044630</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamCatcherofLight/pseuds/DreamCatcherofLight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Times are changing in Sonic's world. Eggman is executed for the crimes he's committed and the government takes Sonic into captivity for their own personal gain. Sonic is forced to go through almost six years of absolute hell until he's finally able to escape. But he's not the same, and neither is anyone else, and there's the threat of a war between mobians and humans. How will Sonic cope will all the changes? Eventual Sonilver.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amy Rose/ OC, Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat, Silver the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys! This is my first time posting anything on Ao3, so it's kinda weird and I apologize if nothing looks good. I've decided to use both this and Fanfiction.net because I thought I might try to gain popularity with my stories on here...something like that. Anyways, this story is also published on my Fanfiction.net account, which is also called DreamCatcherofLight. There will probably be more information over there for updates and everything. You could also read ahead for a little bit over there because I've published up to chapter 13, plus the prologue. It'll take me a little while to update this one in order to catch up with the other one, so bear with me. Anyways, that's all I wanted to say. Enjoy the story!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Heavy footsteps stampede sloppily through the forest. The wet sloshing of leaves and muted sound of snapping branches is evident of the heavy rainfall that had taken place just hours before. It had washed away everything old. like replacing the artwork of an artist with a fresh blank canvas.</p><p>It's cold, but it doesn't affect the creature stumbling through the forest. His fur is thick enough to keep him warm, even in the coldest of winters. But the weather isn't his main concern right now. In fact, it isn't even a thought that crosses his mind. He's more focused on the angry shouting that rises up in the distance behind him.</p><p>He's desperate to get away, but he's quickly growing exhausted. Something he's become very familiar with over his five and a half years of torture.</p><p>"Shoot that rat down!" A faint voice suddenly roars over the rest of the mesh of voices. It shoots fear through the creatures' heart. It's strong enough to make him almost freeze. Almost. That voice is the voice of the man that had tormented him all these years.</p><p><em>'I'm not a rat!'</em> He can't help but think angrily. A shimmer of his old personality peaks through a curtain of dark trauma. He swears on his life that he would never lose himself, that he would never give up hope. It's the one thing that's kept him mostly sane throughout the years. It reminds him of the good days. Back when he could run free of his own will, fighting alongside his friends for the good of the world.</p><p>His heart aches of the bittersweet memories. Oh how he wishes he could go back, to retreat into his memories.</p><p>A bang suddenly echos throughout the busy forest, ripping Sonic away from his thoughts. A bullet whizzes past his right ear, just centimeters from ripping a hole through the delicate cartilage. It hits the tree right in front of him. He stumbles to a stop, though he trips over a twisted tree root hidden under a thick layer of wet leaves. He falls forwards and lands flat on his face with a winded "oof" escaping his heavily bruised chest.</p><p>"Got you now, Sonic." A menacing voice suddenly says. The same voice that can easily strike fear through Sonic's voice. The voice that, if there's a devil, would belong to said devil.</p><p>The creature known as Sonic is barely able to prop himself up on his hands. His arms shake and his breathing is heavy and uneven. His heart races quickly in his chest and thick jolts of fear twist painfully in his stomach. And he still manages to look up at this man, glaring him straight in the eyes, baring his fangs as he does so.</p><p>His large fluffy ears swivel all around on his head when he hears the quiet snap of a twig nearby. He listens intently though he never takes his eyes off the man in front of him. He can hear multiple humans all around him, hiding behind trees, bushes, rocks, anything really.</p><p>"I thought you knew better." The man's voice drones out as he lowers his shotgun from Sonic's forehead. If looks could kill, this man would be laying in a mangled heap of bones and flesh at Sonic's feet, slowly dying an agonizing death. And even <em>that</em> doesn't feel like justice for Sonic.</p><p>"Even now you still manage to surprise me." The man says as he casually wonders closer to the feral beast. There's a twisted smirk on his face and his clothes reek strongly of the cleaning chemicals used back at the lab. Sonic can only imagine what he had been doing before he had been alerted to Sonic's escape.</p><p>The man comes to a stop and leans down so he's eye level with the injured creature. His gray blue eyes have an amused sparkle. "I guess you didn't learn from all the other times you pulled something like this. I guess it's time to truly show you your place in this world, <em>pet</em>."</p><p>The only warning is a low, guttural snarl in the back of Sonic's throat before he lunges. He's fast, despite the multiple injuries littering his body. He manages to pin the man to the ground, a hand on both sides of his shoulders to keep him from trying to roll away.</p><p>Metallic clicking can be heard all around him in a huge circle as the humans prepare their guns to shoot.</p><p>"Don't fire!" The man below Sonic shouts as he holds an arm up against Sonic's bruised chest. "Do not shoot!"</p><p>Sonic doesn't know why he tells his men this. Maybe it's because he wants Sonic alive, or maybe his ego won't allow the others to help him from his inevitable death. Whatever it is, Sonic doesn't care. It gives him more time to savor the death of his tormentor.</p><p>Sonic presses against the arm holding him back, using all his weight. His snapping jaws are just centimeters away from ripping his man's face to shreds and his claws dig deep into the ground to steady himself. He looks absolutely crazed right now, and deep down he's afraid that he's finally lost his mind. Gone insane, ballistic from trauma.</p><p>He's too focused on all the emotions raging through him, all the pent up rage and hopelessness and sadness and frustration and everything else he's ever felt over the past five and a half years. It all comes spilling out, the cork to the metaphorical bottle popping clean off, unable to hold it all.</p><p>Sonic doesn't notice the man below him slowly inching to the left. The man's hand claws at the ground in terrified desperation. Sonic can see it in his eyes, and he drinks every last inch of the moment. He can feel the arm holding him back shake with the strain of holding him away, and he knows that soon the arm would give out and Sonic would finally be able to-</p><p>There's a click, and Sonic's eyes immediately widen. The man below him smirks triumphantly and Sonic instantly knows that he's in trouble.</p><p>Time feels endless and slow. Sonic feels the cold tip of the gun press uncomfortably against his left side. A heart stopping bang rings out through the forest. Everything goes still. Everything goes silent. No one moves and no one makes a sound as they stare in bewilderment at what just happened.</p><p>Sonic is frozen in place, eyes wide. His mouth hands open, blood falling from his mouth like sticky drool. His scared green eyes slowly look over to the shotgun held in the man's free hand, still pressed against Sonic's now heavily bleeding side. The dripping of thick liquid falling to the wet leaves below fills the tense silence. And then Sonic's body goes slack, the only thing keeping him up is the hand still pressed against his chest.</p><p>He's thrown to the right and lands heavily on his uninjured side. High pitched whine is heard as Sonic breathes heavily, his breath rattling around in his chest. His heart races dangerously fast and his vision quickly blurs in and out of focus. A fiery agony rips through his entire body through the shock and adrenaline.</p><p>There's a huge hole in his side where he was shot point blank, the fur around it singed. Blood quickly gushes from the wound in thick waves, soaking the fur around the wound. It rolls down his side, down his belly, where it pools in a thick puddle on the mulch below.</p><p>"This is what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you." The man suddenly says, cutting through Sonic's high pitched whining. He stands up, holding his shotgun securely in his hand. He smiles a slick, oily smile that sends shivers down Sonic's already shaking body.</p><p>The man takes the few short steps to get to Sonic. He lifts a foot and stomps it down against Sonic's bleeding side, causing a yelp of pain to rip from Sonic's throat. "How pathet-"</p><p>Sonic doesn't think. He feels like an animal, trapped in a corner with nothing but his teeth and claws to defend himself. And that's exactly what he does.</p><p>He twists towards the man's leg and opens his powerful maw. He clamps his jaw shut around the man's whole leg, drawing a startled scream from the man above. Sonic relishes in the feeling of his razor sharp teeth sinking through skin and muscle. He forces himself not to gag as the man's blood pools in Sonic's mouth, trickling down his chin in a sticky mix of blood and saliva.</p><p>The tips of his canines scrape hard bone and Sonic does his best to leave gashes in the strong material. The man throws his head back with a howl of pain, sweat glistening on his oily forehead. He wastes no time to lift the shotgun and bring it down heavily against Sonic's head.</p><p>It takes five harsh hits with the butt of the shotgun to get Sonic to let go. Once Sonic does let go he quickly throws the man off of him and stands on all fours, his whole body shaking. He wastes no time when he hears the clicking of guns all around him. He shoots off into the forest, the sound of gunshots following quickly after.</p><p>There are only three people in the way of Sonic's escape, and he quickly tears through them. They don't even manage to land a single hit on Sonic. He's moving too much and too fast.</p><p>Sonic goes for the person closest to him first. The man backs up and aims his gun at Sonic, though he doesn't even get the chance to pull the trigger. The feral beast leaps on the man, the force sending him falling to the ground. He drops his gun. A scream of fear sounds through the forest though it's quickly cut off as Sonic clamps his strong jaws down over the man's head. He easily crushes the skull and gags at the disgusting iron taste of blood and brain matter.</p><p>He rushes to the second person and draws his hand back. He slashes his black claws across both of the man's ankles. A deep snap is heart as the man's achilles tendons both snap, rolling up his leg. He throws his head back with a scream, though it doesn't last as Sonic slashes his claws across his throat, slitting his artery. Sonic leaves the man in a bloody heap on the ground, body convulsing as his life force quickly dies away.</p><p>The third person manages to shoot a few rounds at Sonic, though the beast quickly manages to dodge it all. His quills bristle and an animalistic snarl rises in his throat, his green eyes wild. He shoots a rain of sharp navy blue quills at the man in front of him. They pierce his body in multiple places and Sonic uses the distraction to rush in. He stands on his hind legs, grabs both of the man's arms, and pulls.</p><p>The appendages are ripped from the body in a gush of blood. Sonic then kicks the man into a tree and continues on his way.</p><p>It all happened in the blink of an eye. No one even had time to react and try to stop Sonic. Under no circumstances will he allow himself to be captured again. Even if he is losing a dangerous amount of blood from the hole in his side.</p><p>The inside of his arm rubs uncomfortably against his left side, coating the fur in messy crimson liquid. With every step he feels more sick. His head is spinning and he can feel a trickle of blood running down the left side of his head from when he had been hit with the gun five times.</p><p>He can hear shouting behind him, growing fainter and fainter the further he gets. Though, this time, it's followed by the dangerous gunshots. The bullets hit the trees around Sonic, and he has to dodge a few here and there. He knows they're just shooting out blindly in hopes of crippling him in some way.</p><p>Sonic doesn't know how long he runs or how far he gets. His body is starting to slowly wear down with each step and he feels like crying from the intense pain blossoming throughout his body. Like when a drop of water hits paper and slowly spreads. But one thing is for sure, he'd die before he let himself be captured again.</p><p>A bullet suddenly hits the ground behind one of Sonic's feet. A startled yelp escapes as he stumbles forwards. He steps on a smooth rock and loses his footing. He slides forwards and falls. Gravity does the rest and pulls him down with her cold grasp. Sonic rolls down a steep hill, and if it isn't for the way it slopes, it would be considered more of a cliff than anything.</p><p>He rolls and rolls and rolls. Sticks stab at his skin and rocks bruise him painfully when he hits them. Leaves and twigs get tangled in his already matted navy blue fur. He leaves a heavy blood trail behind him as he descends the hill.</p><p>A large flat rock suddenly juts out from the side of the hill, angled upwards. Sonic rolls off of it and his stomach drops as he flies through the air with a cry. He hits the ground below soon after, landing with a splash in the small creek down below. He lands on his chest first, and he hears a loud snap followed by a sharp pain in his lung. He coughs up a few specks of blood shortly after.</p><p>The pebbles dig into his skin uncomfortably, and the cold water immediately seeps through his fur. Seeing as his fur will do no good in keeping him warm anymore, he shivers uncontrollably. The slowly moving water stings his wound greatly, sending a whole fresh shock of pain through his already worn down body.</p><p>He's exhausted. He can't focus. Nausea swims around in his stomach and he has to choke back the bile that repeatedly climbs up his throat. His head pounds painfully and his vision goes back and forth between blurry and clear. His heart is still racing in his chest and he knows that it probably isn't the safest to have his heart beating this fast for this long.</p><p>Within minutes his whole underside along with his arms and legs are completely soaked through. His sharp teeth chatter as strong shivers rip through his body, biting at his sore muscles. Every single sound is like a knife to his brain. Even with his ears pinned down against his skull, the sounds are still painful.</p><p>His blood clouds in the water and is gently carried away downstream. It leads a trail of watered down blood snaking through the water, leading back to the unmoving Sonic. He doesn't know how long he lays there, trembling both from the cold and pain.</p><p>A faint sound rises up in the distance. Sonic's ears slowly perk up atop his head, swiveling slowly around to try and put a name to the sound. He hears it again. And he goes completely still, eyes widening. Barking. He can hear <em>dogs</em>. His blood goes even colder than the icy creek he's laying in, and his heart stutters in his chest as a fresh wave of fear floods his system.</p><p>It wouldn't take long for the dogs to track him down. It's now or never to put more distance between himself and his captors, and he intends to chose "now".</p><p>Sonic's raspy breath rattles in his bruised chest as he slowly stands up on all fours. He looks like a drowned rat with the way his fur sticks to his scrawny body, showing every single bone. Anyone would be able to easily count each of his ribs from across the room, even if they had bad eyesight.</p><p>He slowly looks around, trying to focus on his surroundings. Everything is just a blend of browns and greens and grays. He can't make sense of any of it. He doesn't know where he is, he doesn't know where to go, and his body is just seconds away from giving out on him.</p><p>And then a thought swims up from the ocean of confusion in his brain. The <em>bullet</em>. When he had been shot, he hadn't felt the exit wound. Which means the bullet is still stuck deep in Sonic's side.</p><p>His whole world comes crashing to the side. He stumbles forwards, water splashing up around him. He breathes heavily as everything slowly starts to press down on his shoulders. His head clears somewhat and he can finally make out everything around him. But the thing he spots is a small overhang of rock, creating an even smaller cave underneath.</p><p>Sonic slowly limps over, grimacing with each step. He can hear the barking in the distance. It sounds somewhat closer. They're following his trail, so he'd have to make this fast.</p><p>The cave is just big enough to fit Sonic comfortably. He practically collapses against the wall when he gets there. He's breathing heavily and he leans his head back against the cold stone, breathing out slowly through his parted lips. He waits for the pain in his side to die down to a sharp throb, enough to where he can focus on getting the bullet out.</p><p>He sucks in a sharp breath and tries not to think about what he's about to do as he hovers his hand over his side. The claws of his index finger and thumb are centimeters away from the gaping, bloody hole in his side. With his head still against the stone wall, he slowly exhales through his nose and starts the procedure.</p><p>Sonic would've sobbed right then and there had he not bit the inside of his cheek. He plunges his finger and thumb into the wound. His eyes water and he has a sharp intake of breath. He can feel his finger and thumb ripping through the muscle, making room.</p><p>A fiery anguish burns through his entire body, and he suddenly doesn't feel cold anymore. He squeezes his eyes shut and clenches his jaw, gritting his teeth. A painful cry ghosts past his sharp teeth and tears mist over in his eyes. He refuses to let them fall, though.</p><p>His finger and thumb gradually sink slowly into his side. He has to take occasional pauses here and there because he would repeatedly start to feel sick and lightheaded. Sonic had almost passed out a few times, though he doesn't know if it's from blood loss or the pain.</p><p>But the bullet is in too deep. With a weak cry he has to push his whole hand into the wound in order to reach the bullet. Part of him doesn't understand why he's doing this. Part of him wonders if he really should be trying to take this bullet out of his side all by himself. But then his paranoia kicks in and tells him to keep doing it. What if it's a tracking device? What if it's poisoned? What if it's a combination of the two? He wouldn't put it past the humans, especially after all they've done to him.</p><p>And then finally, finally, he feels his claw scratch against something heard. A sigh of relief escapes as he grips the metal bullet with his two claws. He starts to carefully pull the bullet from the wound, not wanting his claws to slip due to the thick blood coating his hand and the bullet. The process is long, and Sonic would rather get shot point blank again than pull a bullet out of himself.</p><p>His claws suddenly slip from the bullet. The claws from his other fingers stab painfully into the muscle around. A choked sob escapes Sonic's throat and he bites his tongue to keep the tears from falling down his scarred muzzle. He quickly regains the bullet in his grasp though, and continues the procedure.</p><p>Slowly, he finally pulls the bullet from the even bigger hole in his side now. He doesn't even have the strength to hold the bullet up in front of his face for him to look at it. His hand drops to the stone floor, the bullet rolling away. He stares numbly at the wall opposite if him, sleek blood shinning on his hand and past his wrist. He breathes heavily and tries to keep himself from passing out due to the heavy blood flow from his side.</p><p>And in the distance, even closer than ever, he hears the barking of dogs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tails' has trouble with a client and Amy steps in to help defend her friend.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I thought I'd publish at least three chapters to help get this story up and running.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The freezing cold is bitter, able to put anyone in a bad mood just by breathing it. It's been cold for some time, but the young fox who owns the building isn't able to do anything about it. He makes just enough money to pay the bills and keep himself alive, he doesn't have enough money to keep the heater going.</p><p>You'd think that he would've grown used to it by now, but he hasn't. Small tremors run through his body despite his longer fur. He has to force his hands to stay completely still so as not to mess anything up with the little trinket he's working on.</p><p>As he stands in front of the work table he's left to his own wondering thoughts. He can't help but think back to a certain blue hedgehog and all the adventures they've been on. They've pretty much been everywhere around the world and he's lost count of how many times they've saved the planet.</p><p>He remembers one time they had been trapped in a blizzard, forced to take cover in a cave. Tails had been fine. Cold, but not at risk of freezing to death. Sonic, on the other had, had been shivering worse than a leaf because his fur does little to nothing to keep out the cold. He wouldn't normally have to worry about it since he's constantly moving around, which keeps him warm in the colder climates, but right then he hadn't been moving. Tails had had to cover Sonic with his two namesakes so as to keep the hedgehog from dying of the cold.</p><p>Tails' heart swells with emotion and tears blur his vision. He has to set the trinket down on the table because he's too caught up in his mind to continue working on it at the moment. His two tails droop sadly behind him and his ears lower on his head.</p><p>Oh what he'd give to see Sonic one last time. To see his confident emerald irises and his trademark smirk that only he can manage to pull off. He at least wants to get the chance to say goodbye before his best friend disappeared.</p><p>He had searched for months on end, desperate to try and find even the smallest hint as to where Sonic had gone. No one had even seen Sonic on the day he disappeared. Sonic had just seemingly vanished from thin air, never to be seen again. But that hadn't deterred Tails. The fox had searched for almost a whole year before Amy and the others had to step in.</p><p>Tails has never been angry with Sonic for disappearing. He knows Sonic, the two are practically one half of the same coin. He knows Sonic wouldn't just up at leave. But it's been almost six years now and Tails is exhausted. He's been worn down too much, he's fallen too far down this hole the government has pushed him into. Any hope for ever seeing Sonic again had died down to a small flickering flame just seconds from dying out.</p><p>But he still fights, he still hopes. He refuses to ever give up on Sonic because Sonic wouldn't give up on Tails. But it's hard at times, seeing as no one is on Tails' side in search of the blue hero. Everyone has given up on finding Sonic. Even Amy his concluded that the blue blur is either dead or he betrayed them all. Whatever the case, Amy has sworn on multiple occasions that if she ever sees Sonic-dead or alive-she'd beat him beyond recognition with her hammer.</p><p>The government is corrupt, making living difficult. They're all struggling in a world that's completely against them. The prices have shot up through the roof for both humans and mobians. The government managed to turn the human population against the mobians after their beloved hero had seemingly left them for dead (which Tails knows isn't true). There's even new laws focused on the mobians to make it even harder to get by in this dark world.</p><p>The sound of a bell catches Tails' attention. A large ear twitches in its direction, his two namesakes twitching. His sharp hearing picks up the heavy footsteps against dusty concrete floor.</p><p>"Welcome to Tails' Workshop. How can I help you today, sir?" Tails hears his one and only employee say. Tails can clearly hear the mask of cheerfulness in his voice. Like his employee, everyone in this godforsaken city is either exhausted, not the nicest of people, or a mix of the two. It's everyone for themselves and Tails hates it.</p><p>"Where's your boss?" The customer asks with a grunt. Tails' heart sinks to his stomach and dread darkens his already low mood.</p><p>He knows this person. Henry Harris, one of Tails' regular clients. He's constantly coming to Tails for commissions, in which he turns around and sells the work for an even higher price than what he pays for. And Tails is severely under payed for the time, effort, and cost it takes to make whatever the man wants. But he can't ask for more money, it's one of the laws passed by the government. Mobians are allowed to be under payed without repercussion because they're just "filthy animals".</p><p>The only reason Tails puts up with this man is the fact that he's really the only client. Sure there are other people here and there who check out the place and maybe buy a thing or two, but that isn't enough to pay the bills. Tails needs all the money he can get his hands on in order to get through to the next month.</p><p>It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that Henry is the worst human being Tails has ever experienced. He's constantly giving Tails' short deadlines to meet, he's rude, and throws a fit whenever his commissions aren't done on time. And whenever his commissions aren't done on time, he reduces the money he pays by a lot for each day it isn't done.</p><p>"Yeah, he's in the back. I'll get him for you." More footsteps are heard and a human appears in the doorway, looking uneasy.</p><p>A black apron is tied around his slim waist and he stuffs his bony hands in the pockets of his baggy blue jeans. His brown eyes look everywhere but at Tails behind his shaggy sand colored hair. He sounds sympathetic as he says, "Mr. Harris wants to talk with you."</p><p>"Thanks, Kylo." Tails sighs, shoulders slumping. He points at a group of boxes that had arrived earlier that morning and says, "could you organize those boxes while I deal with this?"</p><p>"No problem, boss."</p><p>Tails can't get over how weird it feels to be looked up to. When Tails had first opened this workshop, Kylo had been the very first one to approach Tails and ask for a job. Tails isn't able to pay him much, but it seems that Kylo doesn't care. Apparently he was and still is Tails' biggest fan.</p><p>Their relationship has grown more casual over the two years that Kylo has been working for Tails, but there's still times when the teen subconsciously treats Tails formally instead of a friend.</p><p>Tails makes his way behind the front desk where he sees Henry standing on the other side, tapping his finger against the grimy counter top.</p><p>"Hello Mr. Harris. What can I-"</p><p>"You and I both know what I'm here for.' The man snaps, his blue gray eyes glaring angrily. An ugly sneer twists at his thin lips and greasy sweat collects at his wrinkled forehead. For some reason, he seems more on edge today than any other times he's picked up or ordered a commission. "Is it done yet?"</p><p>Tails shuffles nervously. "U-um...it's-I'm about halfway done." Tails' voice is meek and scared sounding. He actually looks his age. A kid just trying to make his way through the cruel and unforgiving world. <em>'If only Sonic were here.'</em></p><p>"The deadline was supposed to be today!" Henry shouts, throwing his hands in the air. His booming voice causes Tails to flinch away, chewing nervously at the inside of his cheek. A habit he's picked up from all the stressed he's collected over the years.</p><p>"How what am I supposed to tell my client now, huh? That some stupid piss yellow anthro doesn't know how to get things done properly? Huh!?"</p><p>"I'm sorry Mr. Harris but-"</p><p>"Sorry doesn't finish the battery!" He runs a thick hand through greasy dark brown hair. Tails averts his eyes, biting his cheek harder so as not to cry. If he cried in front of this man he'd be ridiculed even more. Besides, he has to be like Sonic. Sonic wouldn't cry. Sonic would probably tell this man to stuff it and then punch him shortly after, which is something Tails wants to do really badly right now.</p><p>"You have one day to finish this you stupid little cunt. If it isn't finished by tomorrow at three P.M. <em>sharp</em>, then expect a visit from my friends." He turns and takes a few steps towards the door he came in from, though he promptly stops and looks over his shoulder. "Oh, and one more thing. Consider this the last commission I order."</p><p>It takes only a split second for the meaning to sink in. It makes Tails feel sick. His heart feels like its disintegrating in his digestive system, turned into disgusting green acid that bubbles with the heat of fear.</p><p>"Please reconsider!" Tails exclaims, leaning forwards with his hands splayed out on the counter, supporting his weight. "I"ll do better! I'll work faster, just please don't-"</p><p>"It's too late. I've warned you multiple times before."</p><p>"I've just been busy! Let me-"</p><p>"Busy with what!? Messing around like the dumb brat you are instead of doing what you're supposed to do?"</p><p>"No! That isn't true at all!"<br/>
"Stop whining already!" The man shouts. He turns around and slams his hands down on the counter. Tails flinches and pulls his hands back, almost afraid that Henry would smash them out of anger. "If you keep whining I'll give you a reason to really cry abo-"</p><p>The bell suddenly rings, followed by a sharp yell of "what the hell do you think you're doing?"</p><p>Henry slowly stands straight. Pure malice burns in his eyes as he turns around to face the newcomer. Tails can clearly see his posture is stiff and uncomfortable.</p><p>Amy stands in the doorway with both of her hands holding onto her piko-piko hammer. Her eyebrows are downcast and her forest greek eyes are shaky with anger. Her dirtied, torn clothes and unkempt quills only add to her furious aura.</p><p>"I see your little friend is here," Henry says, adjusting his coat. He looks back over his shoulder at Tails. "Remember <em>fox</em>, three o'clock sharp."</p><p>Henry then walks towards the door, sneering at Amy as he passes. And then he's gone, his heavy footsteps echoing down the wet alleyway.</p><p>Tails can't exactly say he's relieved. Even though he doesn't want to deal with Henry on a weekly basis, he doesn't want to lose his main source of income. He might have to give up another appliance, like the water or maybe even the insurance if push comes to shove.</p><p>"Was he giving you a hard time, Tails?" Amy asks as she makes her way to the front desk. Her hammer disappears in a puff of smoke. "I don't know why you put up with that guy. He's such a jackass!"</p><p>"I've told you not to worry about me," Tails says indignantly as he takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. He's too tired to deal with this today. He's too tired to deal with this at all, to be frank.</p><p>"You know I can't not worry." Amy says as she leans against the counter. "You don't exactly have any weapons to protect yourself with.'</p><p>"I don't need weapons."</p><p>Amy takes a deep breath. "Tails, this isn't like the "good ol' days". You can't just simply defend yourself with your two tails."</p><p>The young fox looks away, his chest constricting with emotion. "If Sonic was here-"</p><p>"Sonic is gone, Tails! Just face it. He got bored of us and left us here to rot away! He's probably living the good life on some island-"</p><p>"You don't know that!" Tails shouts back, angry tears burning in his eyes. His fur bristles furiously and his ears are flat against his skull. His tails swish in quick tornadoes behind him. "He might be out there somewhere, unable to help us. What if he needs our help more than we need his? What if-"</p><p>"Stop with the what if's! He's gone, Tails. You'll never see him again. "</p><p>"You know, I never thought you'd be the first to lose hope so quickly.'</p><p>A tense silence fills the room once more. The two glare angrily at one another, their anger crashing like two continents colliding. The only sound is their heavy breathing and the quiet scuffing of footsteps from the backroom as Kylo continues working.</p><p>Amy sighs, her shoulders slumping. "Tails, I'm-"</p><p>The sudden sound of claws scratching against the door cuts Amy off. The two both freeze and hold their breath, eyes widening. The scratching against the metal door is a high pitched screech, causing Amy and Tails to cover their ears.</p><p>"Get down!" Amy hisses quietly as she leaps over the counter. She lands in a crouch and Tails drops down beside her, heart racing in his chest. "It might be one of those <em>things</em>. Just stay behind me Tails. It won't manage to take two steps towards you before I beat the living hell out of it."</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>-A Few Minutes Earlier-</strong>
</p><p>The blood loss is greatly affecting him. He can't think clearly and his head is spinning as fast as he can run in his normal form. Every step is stumbled over something or nothing at all, and he is repeatedly running into trees.</p><p>Everything is a muffled blur of sound to his flattened ears. It's just a blend of nonsense noise in the background that he probably should be paying more attention to, but he can't focus enough to actually understand any of it. He's hyper aware of everything he is, but the forest feels like an unimportant smear on a perfect painting that can easily be covered.</p><p>Sonic suddenly bursts from the treeline. He stumbles to a sloppy halt, breathing heavily as he slowly takes everything in. He can feel the leaves and twigs stuck in his fur, rubbing uncomfortably against his beaten body. He feels almost completely numb, despite the fact that his wound is still bleeding and he's still damp from the water he had fallen in. All he feels is a dull pounding through his body. It makes him feel sick and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from gagging.</p><p>In front of him is a short stretch of tall, yellow grass that smells strongly of mold. Beyond that is a city he's very familiar with. It's the place where he's lived for most of his life. If he had known he was this close to the city, to all his friends, he would've tried nonstop to escape.</p><p>Built stabs at his stomach and he has to sit back on his haunches so as not to collapse. He forces away the familiar sting of tears in his eyes. He will not cry. He has to show that he's strong, he has to be strong. If he isn't it'll be certain death. That's the rule he's been living by for almost six years, and he doesn't intend to stray too far away from it.</p><p>Sonic squints his eyes so as to see the city better. To his surprise, it's barely recognizable. The buildings are more dark and plain than he remembers and the streets look completely empty.</p><p>Sonic carefully approaches the city, eyes wide as he takes it all in. Some places look completely abandoned by the way rusting cars are scattered about cracked asphalt and overgrown buildings.</p><p><em>'What happened?'</em> Sonic thinks to himself. His ears slowly perk forwards, listening for any possible danger. A shiver courses through his slowly numbing body, and he has half an instinct to run back to the grassland from how icy cold the concrete feels beneath his bloody paws. His black claws click dully against the ground, echoing off the cracked, empty buildings.</p><p>Sonic's breath collects in the air as he stumbles down the street. The whole place reeks of humans and their disgust. He's too exhausted to try and get out of there, to pass by the city to find a safer place to hide. And even if he wanted to he wouldn't be able to. He needs help from all the blood he's lost. There's also a small bud of hope buried deep in his cautious heart.</p><p>There's still a chance the others could still be around here. And he so badly wants to see them again.</p><p>The sound of heavy footsteps catch Sonic's attention. He pauses mid step, gingerly tasting the sour air. His ears perk forwards and he identifies the sound coming from an alleyway not too far ahead off to his right. The footsteps are too heavy to be a mobian, so Sonic immediately registers them as human.</p><p>Sonic instinctively crouches low to the ground so that the matted fur on his chest brushes against the cracked concrete. His lips curl back in a snarl and he listens as the human grows closer and closer. Sonic's tired muscles coil up in anticipation, he doesn't want to fight but he would if he has to.</p><p>"Stupid fox," he hears a male voice spit out. Sonic's heart stutters in his chest and he forces himself not to grow antsy. He forces any thoughts away at what the man could mean. He has to focus.</p><p>"He should know what's good for him, especially after last t-"</p><p>The man turns the corner and immediately freezes when he sees Sonic. His hand moves to his waist but Sonic gives him no time to draw whatever weapon he has. The beast lunges at the man, landing just inches in front of him with a guttural growl ripping from his dry throat.</p><p>The man stumbles backwards and falls to his behind on the ground with a deep "oof" of surprise. Sonic takes his chance and pushes the man back with two heavy paws on his shoulders. His claws pierce through the dirty clothes and dig into the man's skin.</p><p>"D-damn beast!" He breathes out, his eyes locking with Sonic's. Fierce anger burns heatedly in shadowed eyes. Sonic lets out a snarl, his pointed nose just centimeters away from the man's own stubby, upturned nose. He leans forwards, his arms slightly shaking with the weight of his body. He can feel his claws dig deeper under the skin of the human, which pulls a grunt of pain from the man's gritted teeth.</p><p>"You win!" The man suddenly exclaims as Sonic slowly opens his jaw to show rows of harsh, pointed teeth. "Let me go! I promise I won't bother that fox anymore! Please, I'm only thirty-two! I have a wife and kids-"</p><p>Sonic feels a sense of excitement course through his heart as he slowly lowers his jaw to the man's throat. And it makes him feel sick to his stomach, but he can't control it. He feels like he's outside his own body, watching everything happen as if in a trance. He so desperately wants to stop, to spare this man's life and let him run off to his wife and children, but he can't.</p><p>And then the spell is broken as something breaks against his left side. A high pitched yelp escapes Sonic's open mouth and he stumbles away, one paw gripping his bleeding side. He can feel multiple objects stuck in his side, all sharp and jagged drawing more blood from the gaping hole from the gunshot just barely an hour before.</p><p>Sonic's eyes spot the broken bottle held in the man's left hand, gleaming with Sonic's own blood. Some of it drips down to the ground in small, bright drops. It stains the grimy concrete, blending with the wetness from the rainfall that had taken place earlier.</p><p>The man takes his chance. He scrambles to his feet and quickly runs down the sidewalk, throwing the broken bottle to the side as he does so. Sonic watches, breathing heavily as the bottle shatters into more sharp pieces of glass. It lays there, almost as if crouched behind a bush, ready to spring at another unsuspecting victim.</p><p><em>'Damn.'</em> He thinks to himself as he looks over at his bloodstained side. The hit had stunned him, but he hadn't really felt any pain. He doesn't know if it's from the shock or from the cold, or both for that matter, but he knows it's pretty serious.</p><p>Slowly, he looks down the dark alleyway from which the man had come from. He doesn't know what pulls him down the alleyway, or why he even started following the scent trail back the way the man had came, but something is telling him to do it. And it shouldn't matter anyways, as long as he gets help.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There's trouble at Tails' workshop with a client. Sonic shows up afterwards and all hell breaks out between Tails, Sonic, and Amy as the trio reunite in a not so great reunion.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alright, as of today this is the last chapter I'll post. I don't know when I'll post the next few, but I normally update it within a week or so. My longest of going without updating this story has been 2 weeks if I remember correctly. I do have to go to school, and since my GPA is currently a 1.2, it will probably take a little longer to update stories. Not to mention my snake has scale rot, so I also have to deal with that as well. Anyways, enjoy the story, and hopefully I'll be able to update soon! <br/>P.S.: Remember, you can always read ahead on Fanfiction.net, my user is the same as this one, DreamCatcherofLight and the story name is just the same.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
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      <p>Slowly, Sonic stumbles down the alleyway from which the man had come from. His paws drag against the grimy ground while his lungs struggle to take in the appropriate amount of air, though it's difficult when each breath feels like glass stabbing into the delicate muscles.</p>
      <p>He stops at the end where a metal door is closed. A flashing blue and red "<em>OPEN</em>" sign is nailed to the wall on the right, though it seems to be in poor condition. The N on the end is flickering on and off while it makes an annoying buzzing sound. There is also a run down sign right above the door. The grimy yellow paint is chipping off and the white letters are so dirty they look almost black. Sonic squints in order to focus long enough to read the words <em>"WELCOME TO TAILS' WORKSHOP!"</em>.</p>
      <p>It takes a moment for the words to sink in. Sonic stands there, staring blankly before his eyes widen. <em>'Wait...Tails?' </em>He thinks to himself. He can't help but feel a flickering of hope stutter in his quickly beating heart as the face of a young fox flashes in his mind.</p>
      <p>He tries not to jump to conclusions just yet. Well, that's what he'd tell himself in a normal situation, but this isn't a normal situation. There is a gaping hole in his side and he's running on what little blood he has left in his body. He doesn't have a clear mind, far from it actually. He's too exhausted to think otherwise, and so he throws caution and logical explanations out the window.</p>
      <p>Sonic slowly stands on his back legs, hissing with pain. Sure, his body might be mostly numb, but that doesn't mean that he still can't feel some pain. And stretching his side to stand on his hind legs is enough pain to break through the numb barrier coating his body.</p>
      <p>He lifts a paw and scratches his sharp claws against the metal of the door. A high pitched shriek immediately echoes off the door. The noise runs through his ear canals and pierce his brain like a knife through the gut. Sonic sways on his feet with a high pitched whine, pressing a paw against his head. He quickly blinks so as to clear the white dots from his vision.</p>
      <p>Sonic's ears lower against his head as his eyes slowly wonder over to the flashing <em>"OPEN" </em>sign once more. And then it hits him, and he wants to slap himself so hard across the face that he hits the wall beside him. Why hadn't he just thought to open the door like a normal person? That would have avoided him the sharp brain the noise caused.</p>
      <p>He wants so badly to blame it on the fact that he can't think very clearly from the blood loss and all, but he knows that isn't the true reason. Deep down he knows that the longer he stays in this beastly form, the more animalistic he becomes. And that scares him beyond belief, so he tries to ignore that fact as much as he can.</p>
      <p>Until he starts to become a rampaging killing machine. Then he can't ignore that small little detail anymore.</p>
      <p>With a deep breath, Sonic slowly turns the doorknob, careful to not let his claws scratch against the metal again. He hears the quiet click, signaling the door is open.</p>
      <p>With a small push, the door creaks open, ringing a bell above as it does. Sonic jumps, having not expected it, though quickly calms his bristling fur as he lowers down onto all fours once more. Standing on his hind legs in this form is fairly uncomfortable, not to mention painful because of his side.</p>
      <p>The flickering from a few lights on the ceiling, a desk lamp on the main counter, and a light coming from the open doorway from a backroom is the only light in the entire building. It doesn't bother Sonic too much, seeing as he has fairly decent night vision in the dark when he's in this form.</p>
      <p>There are shelves lined neatly into rows through the small area. On the shelves sit boxes and different little trinkets that Sonic can't make out. It looks like the building is fairly empty so far, seeing as Sonic can hear nothing except for his own rugged breathing and the pounding of his heart.</p>
      <p>There is a strong scent of metal in the air. It twists Soinc's stomach with a knife of nausea. It reminds him of the suffocating smell of blood. Something that has been burned deep into his brain. He can't even stand smelling it on himself, and his whole journey to the town and then some has been driving him crazy with how strongly the blood smells in his matted fur.</p>
      <p>Sonic distracts himself with different scents. The first he catches is the scent of the man he had followed to get here. It smells strongly of aftershave and cigarettes and heavy cologne. Sonic's nose wrinkles with disgust and he has to swallow thickly to keep the nausea down once more.</p>
      <p>The next scent causes him to pause. It smells of freshly bloomed roses and Sonic immediately places a name to the smell. <em>'Amy.' </em>He thinks hopefully. His heart stutters at the thought and a warmth spreads through his belly to his face. He's glad he has fur to hide the blush that he's sure is on his skin.</p>
      <p>In his years of imprisonment, he's had time to look back on his thoughts and feelings for his friends. Amy had been one of the first, and despite the fact that it hurts his pride to admit it, he really does like her. She's always been there for him, whether he wanted her to be or not. She's been his backup and has even protected him a few times to allow himself to get his bearings straight before fighting again.</p>
      <p>To be honest, Amy's one of the most important people in Sonic's life. Aside from Tails, of course.</p>
      <p>Speaking of Tails, he catches the familiar scent of his self proclaimed brother. The strong scent of fresh air over a bright blue ocean. It's the smell of absolute freedom. The smell is all over the building and Sonic has to struggle with swallowing the lump that has formed in his throat.</p>
      <p>He hasn't seen Tails for almost <em>six </em>years. Six years! Sonic had started to fear that he'd never see his little buddy again, but here he is in Tails' very shop. And with Amy as an added bonus. He couldn't be anymore happy than he is right now. He can't put into words how relieved he is.</p>
      <p>Sonic slowly limps forwards, following the scent of roses to the front desk. His ears are raised with the hope of hearing any sign of his two friends. He knows they're here and he oh so desperately wants to see them, to prove that he hasn't gone crazy and is smelling what he wants to believe is true.</p>
      <p>He's only a few feet away from the front desk when a pink hedgehog suddenly lunges over the top of the counter. She lands in a crouch though she quickly springs up into a defensive stance, gripping her pink piko-piko hammer tightly in her two hands.</p>
      <p>Sonic quickly flinches away, shutting his eyes, half expecting to get hit. When he doesn't feel his bones crushed beneath the hit of a hammer, he slowly opens his eyes to see the hedgehog standing in front of the counter. He immediately perks up, a smile growing on his wolfish muzzle at the sight of her.</p>
      <p>Amy.</p>
      <p>She stands there, body tense. A fierceness burns in her green eyes, something Sonic has never seen in his entire life on the normally upbeat pinkette. Her ears are lowered on her head and she flexes her fingers on her piko-piko hammer, as if trying to find the right hold for the perfect hit.</p>
      <p>The frown slowly falls from Sonic's muzzle as he stares at her, puzzled. His head cocks to the side with confusion and a brow raises. "Amy? Don't you reco-"</p>
      <p>"Shut it before I shove my hammer so far down your throat it comes out the other end." Amy hisses angrily, raising her hammer in a threatening way. Sonic takes a few steps back, ears lowering, eyes widening. Is this really Amy? How'd she get so violent? And aggressive?</p>
      <p>But her personality isn't the only thing that's changed. Her whole appearance has taken a whole 180 change. Her pink fur seems faded and darker, somehow managing to change her different personality. Her red dress is gone, replaced with dark green cargo pants and a black tank top. The pants have multiple zipped pockets and Sonic can only imagine what they're being used for. The tank top is tucked into the cargo pants.</p>
      <p>On her hands, instead of the normal white gloves, are fingerless dark green gloves which show off her unsheathed white nails which could probably deal a fair amount of damage all on their own. They aren't enough to completely destroy an enemy, but they look sharp enough to leave a nasty scar behind.</p>
      <p>To finish it all off, Amy is wearing black army boots that go halfway up her calves. There is a black sheathe wrapped around her upper right thigh with the hilt of some type of weapon sticking out, colored a dark red. There is a rusting silver ring around her left ring finger, the jewel missing from it.</p>
      <p>Even her hammer has changed. The handle of the hammer is completely metal and rusting at the base where the head of the hammer connects. Her hands are wrapped around ripped black foam where her hands are supposed to go, and there are even some bloodstains here and there on the metal. The head of the hammer is still the same yellow and red color, though it looks more solid and deadly than before. There are even small spikes circling around both outer edges of the hammer.</p>
      <p>"What happened to-"</p>
      <p>"I said shut it!" Amy practically roars, her ears flat against her skull now. She takes a few steps forwards though she still keeps her fighting stance. "One more word and you won't even realize what happened before you're smashed in a puddle of blood and gore on the ground. I don't think Tails would want that mess in-"</p>
      <p>"Tails?!" Sonic suddenly exclaims, perking up. Amy pauses, eyes narrowing as Sonic carefully looks around her at the counter. His heart races in his chest and he fights the urge to tear the place apart in order to find his little buddy. "I knew this was his place. Though, I wasn't expecting to see you here Am-"</p>
      <p>Amy suddenly smashes one side of her hammer against the floor, creating a cracked indent in the concrete. Sonic jumps back with a surprised yelp, his fur and quills bristling.</p>
      <p>"I've give you enough warnings dicknut," Amy says, lifting her hammer up over her shoulder. She glares at Sonic with a fiery hate he's only ever seen on the faces of the humans who've tortured him for almost six years. "Should've run when you had the chance."</p>
      <p>Amy raises her hammer over her head and in one swift motion, she brings it down directly over Sonic's head. Sonic completely freezes up, his whole body going rigid. All he can do is watch with wide eyes as the yellow of the hammer comes down above him, ready to deliver a devastating blow.</p>
      <p>"Stop!" A new voice suddenly yells. The hammer stops just centimeters away from Sonic's nose. He can feel the air press against his face from the force of the hammer. His heart stutters painfully in his chest and he sucks in a sharp breath, feeling dizzy again.</p>
      <p>"Tails what are you doing!?" Amy suddenly yells, pulling her hammer away from the mutated hedgehog. He stumbles forwards, barely able to catch himself before he collapses. He exhales heavily, eyes watering from the fear coursing through his entire body.</p>
      <p><em>'I almost died.' </em>Sonic thinks, slowly looking up to stare at Amy. Even though she's still facing him, her head is turned over her shoulder to look back at the counter behind her. <em>'</em>Amy <em>almost killed me.'</em></p>
      <p>"I can't-I can't let you...kill him." Tails' voice says, sounding quiet. Sonic doesn't miss the tensing of Amy's shoulders as she turns her head back to face Sonic. Her green eyes blaze with annoyance and Sonic can clearly see her grinding her teeth.</p>
      <p>"Tails, this is one of those <em>things</em>. Why would you want to save it?"</p>
      <p>Sonic slowly leans over to look over at the counter once more. His whole body completely goes still and his breath hitches in his throat. Standing behind the counter is none other than Miles Prower. Tails. Sonic's self proclaimed brother. And this time, Sonic can't hold back the tears.</p>
      <p>Tails' eyes immediately lock with Sonic and the air seems to grow still. Amy even remains quiet, watching the scene unfold before her. The two just stare at one another for the longest time, tears streaming down Sonic's muzzle while Tails doesn't even seem to breathe he's so shocked.</p>
      <p>"Sonic...?" Tails breathes out after a while, slowly walking from around the counter. His voice sounds so small and scared, so full of broken hope. It pulls at Sonic's heart and his whole body seems to <em>ache </em>with the raw emotion he's feeling. Tails' blue eyes are so heart stricken and innocent and hopeful and Sonic wants nothing more than to rush over and pull Tails into a bear hug, never wanting to let go.</p>
      <p>"Tails." Sonic sighs out, a whimper escaping his throat as he takes a few steps forwards. He feels exhausted all of a sudden, like the emotion allowed his body to finally relax and calm down, to realize that he needs a good night's sleep. Or more.</p>
      <p>A choked sob escapes Sonic and his whole body shakes. Tails looks almost exactly like he did five years ago. His fur is still that rich sunny yellow and white while his eyes are the same bright blue eyes. There are goggles that sit atop his head, one of the red lenses cracked and his two namesakes look somewhat tangled. There is a dirty apron tied around his waist and he's wearing thick dark brown gloves. But other than that, he's still the Tails Sonic knows and loves.</p>
      <p>"Is it-is it really you?" Tails asks, his voice cracking, ears lowering. His bottom lip trembles and his two tails raise off the ground hopefully.</p>
      <p>"O-of course it's me! Tails, I'm so, <em>so </em>sor-"</p>
      <p>"Get back." Amy suddenly says, stepping between Sonic and Tails. Sonic looks up at Amy's face, exhaustion clear on his own. He sits back on his rump once more, like a dog sitting patiently for a treat after doing a trick. He hates himself for it, he hates the way he's acting like an animal.</p>
      <p>"Amy, what-"</p>
      <p>"Tails, do you really think this is Sonic?" Amy cuts Tails off, gesturing to Sonic with her hammer. "He looks nothing like him! I mean, yeah, he has...a shade of blue fur and quills and somewhat resembles a hedgehog, but Sonic looks nothing like this! Not even in his werehog form!"</p>
      <p>"You never know, Amy!" Tails argues, a tone of desperation to his voice. "What if-what if something happened? Maybe that's why Sonic hasn't been back all this time. Maybe he <em>couldn't </em>come back! This-do you really believe Sonic would willingly look like this?"</p>
      <p>"Do you even hear yourself right now?" Amy asks quietly, her shoulders shaking just in the slightest. She looks away and bites her lip, as if trying to control her emotions. "Sonic is <em>gone</em>, Tails. He's never coming back! This isn't Sonic. You're just trying to convince yourself that it is because-"</p>
      <p>"How come you can't accept that theory? Huh?" Tails asks, anger taking over his tone. Sonic frowns, ears lowering. Tails hadn't been easy to anger. Even this wouldn't cause Tails to grow so angry so fast. What had happened in the five years that Sonic has been gone?</p>
      <p>"Don't you remember the last time some monster pretended to be Sonic?" Amy shouts, turning around to fully face Tails. She lets go of her hammer with one hand and uses it to lift up her shirt, not even bothering to turn and face Tails. Tails remains quiet while Amy stands there, glaring furiously at Sonic.</p>
      <p>She lifts the hem of her shirt just below her chest, giving a full view of her abdomen and back. Sonic can't see her back, but he can see the tips of three equal scars poking out from her left and right side. Her hand shakes as she holds her shirt up, eyes misting over with tears.</p>
      <p>"Just like you I thought that thing was Sonic." Amy snaps, dropping her shirt. She grips her hammer with both hands once more, shoulders shaking more violently now. "We had been tricked. Remember? And because of my stupidity that thing almost killed me. And now the same is going to happen with this one! I just don't want to lose-!..."</p>
      <p>"I'm not Emilia."</p>
      <p>Amy's breath hitches at the name and her whole body goes stiff. She lowers her head, but Sonic can still clearly see the tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.</p>
      <p>"Who's...who's Emilia?" Sonic slowly asks, leaning forwards. He keeps his voice light, not wanting to sound like he's prying into Amy's business.</p>
      <p>Amy's head jerks up and the hatred in her green eyes is so fierce it almost physically stings. She points her hammer at Sonic and growls out, "if you don't shut up, I won't hesitate to bash your skull in so hard your brain turns to liquid."</p>
      <p>Sonic bites the inside of his cheek, holding his breath at the redness around her eyes from the tears. He hadn't noticed it before, but her eyes are red rimmed and puffy. There are even dark bags under them, almost like she hasn't had enough sleep in the past year. It looks like she's been crying a lot, too.</p>
      <p>"Hey, Ames, you okay?" Sonic asks, frowning. He's never seen Amy this upset before, not even when he would get hurt on one of his raids to Eggman's base.</p>
      <p>The thought of Eggman churns Sonic's stomach and he has to pinch himself to keep from gagging.</p>
      <p>"Don't-<em>don't </em>call me that." Amy towers over Sonic menacingly, but she won't get closer than five feet. "I'm tired of this. I'm sorry Tails, but I have to get rid of this thing."</p>
      <p>"No!" Tails shouts, and Sonic can hear the rush of footsteps as Tails runs up behind Amy, grabbing her arms.</p>
      <p>"Let go!" Amy shouts, struggling to get away from Tails.</p>
      <p>"I won't let you kill him!"</p>
      <p>"Tails, you're being ridiculous!"</p>
      <p>"I'd rather be ridiculous than let you kill Sonic! I just got him back, I can't lose him again!"</p>
      <p>Sonic suddenly sees movement out of the corner of his eye. His ears perk up and he quickly turns his head. His eyes immediately zero in on the human slowly creeping out from the backroom, holding a pistol in his shaking hands. He freezes when he sees Sonic watching him.</p>
      <p>The kid looks no older than fifteen, maybe sixteen at the most. He's tall and scrawny and his clothes hang on his body. His skin is pale and his shaggy hair is dirty and greasy. His eyes are wide and scared as he slowly lifts the pistol, aiming directly at Sonic's head.</p>
      <p>A low growl escapes Sonic's throat as he slowly starts stalking forwards. Amy and Tails are too busy arguing to notice Sonic's slow stalking of the human behind the desk.</p>
      <p>He doesn't feel like himself. He can't control his actions. It's pure instinct as he slowly draws closer and closer to this human. He doesn't know why, this human hadn't even done anything. Like the man he had tackled in front of the alleyway. He doesn't have any control of himself.</p>
      <p>Adrenaline courses through his bloodstream as he comes to a stop, crouched low to the ground. His muscles bunch up under mangy, tangled fur and his ears perk forwards with alertness. He's zeroed in on his target, it would only take under five seconds to pounce and deliver the killing blow-</p>
      <p>"Kylo!"</p>
      <p>"Sonic!"</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Grasping For Hope</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's a rush against the clock as Tails tries to save Sonic.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know I said I wouldn't update for a bit, but today's my birthday and mom's letting me stay home so I thought "why not?" So, enjoy two extra chapters today. Just so everyone knows, everytime I update the version on FF, I'll update this version with two chapters to try and catch up faster. Once this version is caught up it'll go down to one chapter with every update.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tails watches, horrified. It's like his feet have grown roots that have buried deep into the ground, preventing him from moving. His whole body shakes and tears fill his eyes as the monster before him lunges at Kylo. Had he been wrong? Is this thing really a monster? Is it even Sonic?</p><p>Amy reacts in the blink of an eye. With a few quick steps she's in front of Kylo, swinging her heavy hammer at the Sonic-not-Sonic monster. It slams into its left side, sending it crashing through a handful of shelves. They collapse upon impact, the knickknacks spilling out over the floor. The fragile ones shatter upon impact.</p><p>A pathetic high crying can be heard as the creature writhes around on the floor, tears streaming down its dirtied cheeks. Those expressive green eyes are only filled with pure agony, begging to whatever he can look at long enough to put him out of his misery.</p><p>Tails can't bring himself to move. His heart slams painfully against his rib cage, his own tears streaming down his fluffy cheeks as the pink hedgehog approaches the creature. She looks less than happy as she raises her hammer just above the creature's head, adjusting her grip to get the best hit.</p><p>"W-wait," Tails hears himself croak out. He feels lightheaded as he quickly approaches Amy. He desperately grabs onto her arms, feeling the tense muscles beneath her skin as she glares angrily at Tails.</p><p>"He attacked Kylo!" Amy shouts, wrenching her arm away from Tails' weak grasp. "I'm killing him. If this was Sonic, he wouldn't have attacked. I'm sorry Tails b-"</p><p>Tails quickly moves to stand in front of Amy, holding his arms out. His two tails bristle and a fierceness burns in his sky blue eyes. His large ears are laying low on his head and his lip even curls back in a snarl as he barks out, "I already told you I'm not losing Sonic again! And if you don't like it, you can leave!"</p><p>Amy blinks in surprise at the young fox. She even slowly lowers her hammer, eyes wide as she glances at the writhing creature behind him. She shakes her head, her own ears lowering as she locks eyes with Tails once more. "Fine. Have it your way, but I'm not going to help when this all turns into a shit storm. I warned you, Tails. Don't say I didn't."</p><p>Amy moves back over to where Kylo is standing. Meanwhile, Tails quickly turns around and kneels down on the floor beside the creature.</p><p>"Sonic-oh my god." Tails exclaims as he sees the slick blood coating the concrete floor of his workshop. Tears blur his vision as his hands hover above the gaping hole in Sonic's side. His mind goes blank, he can't think clearly with all the emotions surging through him like a raging river.</p><p>The creature gives out a low whine, slowly curling up in a lose ball on his side. His ears are pressed flat against his head and his green eyes are staring pleadingly at Tails, making him look more like a puppy who lost it's mother. A puppy that's been beaten within an inch of it's life while it's mother lay bleeding to death a few feet away.</p><p>"You-you're gonna be okay," Tails quickly says, taking a deep breath. He struggles to think of what to do. He has to practically force his brain to start working again as he presses his gloved hands down against the wound. This earns another whine, though it's weaker than the first. Tails also notices the quick, raspy breathing and the harsh shaking coming from the battered body.</p><p>"T-Tails," it chokes out, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Although the voice is more deeper and gruff than Sonic's actual voice, it still brings sharp tears attacking the corners of Tails' eyes as he stares into deep pools of emerald green. The same emerald green that he's practically grown up with since he was a little kit.</p><p>"Don't-don't talk," Tails stutters, looking back at his now bloodstained gloves. He turns his head, hot rivulets of tears streaming down his face as he yells, "prepare the medical supplies, Kylo! He's-Sonic's hurt real bad!"</p><p>The kid only gives a shaky nod and retreats into the back room, leaving Amy standing by herself. Tails looks back to Sonic, trying to force a wobbly smile onto his trembling lips. "You're gonna be okay, I promise you're gonna be okay."</p><p>"'m so-sorry," Sonic says, eyelids fluttering.</p><p>"No-no don't be sorry!" Tails quickly exclaims, adding more pressure. Sonic gives a low hum of a whine but does nothing else. His green eyes are staring into the abyss, bloodstained lips parted as he takes in raspy gasps of air. Tails has a sneaking suspicion that one of his ribs had impaled his lung from the force of the hit.</p><p>"N-n'ver st-oped...thi-inking about ev'ryo-ne..." Sonic gasps out, his eyes slowly roaming over to meet Tails' once more. He cracks a weak smile, only to cough up more blood a second later. "I tr-ied...to g-get back...h-ome..."</p><p>"Sonic <em>please</em>, save your strength." Tails begs, forcing himself not to pull Sonic into a tight hug. He has to focus, though he isn't doing a really great job at that right now.</p><p>"S-orry...I kept y-ya waitin'...li-ittle buddy."</p><p>A sharp, gut-wrenching feeling of fear attacks Tails' stomach as Sonic's eyelids flutter once more. His eyes roll into the back of his head and his eyelids close, his whole body going limp.</p><p>"Sonic?" Tails quickly asks, eyes widening. A choked sob escapes as he presses down against Sonic's side with all his weight. He has to stop the bleeding, but that's been pushed to the back of his head with the sudden turn of events. "Oh my god-don't you do this to me! Please Sonic! I just got you back, I can't-I can't lose you again!"</p><p>"Tails, I think he's-"</p><p>"He's not dead!" Tails shouts, cutting Amy off. The desperation in his voice is like a cold, dull knife trying to cut through a slab of metal. All it does is leave shallow scratches in the hopes to shut out the truth, to deny the fact that nothing is actually happening despite how much he really wants to ignore that fact. "I won't let him die! I promised him he'd be okay, I promised-he's...he's the only thing I have left!"</p><p>Rushed footsteps are heard as Kylo runs over to Tails' side. The fox can clearly see the kid is still shaken up by almost being mauled by the very creature he's trying to help save. Despite this, there's still determination in his lively eyes and he bites his lip with concentration, waiting for orders.</p><p>Tails can't explain how relieved he is to have Kylo helping him. Kylo doesn't have a personal relation with Sonic, so he'll have more of a clear head than Tails. He could keep better track of Sonic's condition than Tails, not to mention he's more medically skilled than Tails. Kylo's mother <em>does </em>work as a doctor, after all. She's even helped to stitch up a wound here or there that Tails had gotten from working on a project of his.</p><p>"Help me carry him to the back room," Tails says as he slips his arms under Sonic's shoulders. Kylo positions himself so he's beside Sonic's hips. On three, the two quickly lift Sonic up into their arms and rush to the back room, passing Amy as they do so.</p><p>Tails doesn't miss the glimmer of tears in the pink hedgehog's eyes as she watches them pass her.</p><hr/><p>"How could you let it get away!?" A voice booms out in the small office. Bony hands slam down onto the surface of a dark stained oak wood desk. It sends papers flying every which way, gently gliding down to the carpeted floor below. But that's the least of his worries as he glares at the cowering team of men before him.</p><p>"W-we're sorry, sir, but he's just so...fast!" One of the men bravely speak out, though he flinches back when the scientist sends a heart stopping glare his way.</p><p>"That doesn't matter! General Todd managed to shoot him at point blank with a <em>shotgun</em> and you bumbling retards managed to <em>still </em>let him get away!"</p><p>No one says a word. They all shuffle uncomfortably, looking at everything but the doctor. Said doctor lets out a stressed sigh and stands up straight, pinching the bridge of his nose. He takes a few slow breaths before holding his hands behind his back.</p><p>"No matter. He's infected already, it's only a matter of time before my prototype goes into effect." A sly smile slowly grows on his old, thin cracked lips. They pull back to reveal disgusting yellow stained teeth and rotting, almost black gums. "It's only a matter of time."</p><hr/><p>Tails sits on a stool beside the makeshift hospital table on which Sonic is currently laying on. He's struggling to keep his emotions in check as his blue eyes roam the multiple bandages wrapped around the battered form of a once proud hero. Now all he is is some monster who obviously has severe trauma. It's clear with how he reacted towards Kylo.</p><p>"Hey, boss?" Speaking of Kylo, the kid walks into the back room. He had changed out his bloody apron and gloves for some clean ones, but there's still dark red stains on his shirt and pants where the apron hadn't been able to protect him from. There are even some splotches of dried blood on his arms and face as well.</p><p>"Hm?" Tails hums, his eyes lingering on Sonic's face for a few seconds before roaming over to look at Kylo's face. The kid looks absolutely exhausted and shaken up. His hair is messy and sticking out in random directions while his face is ghostly pale.</p><p>"Can I-um, I'm...I'm gonna clock out for the night." Kylo says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He glances warily at Sonic, as if half expecting him to leap right off the table to attack again. "Mrs. Amy said she'd bring some more blood transfusions from the hospital early tomorrow."</p><p>"Alright. See you later, Kylo." Tails forces a small smile as the kid gives a grateful nod. He turns and starts walking. "Oh, and you can have the day off tomorrow, if you'd like. You seem pretty shaken up about all this."</p><p>Kylo stops and looks over his shoulder, giving Tails a grateful smile. "Thanks, you don't know how much I need it."</p><p>"Take it easy, kid."</p><p>"Will do, boss."</p><p>And with that, Kylo leaves. Tails is alone once more, his eyes looking back to Sonic's unconscious form. He still can't get over how different Sonic looks. Sure, he's seen Sonic in multiple forms over the years, but nothing like...this. He somewhat resembles his werehog form, but at the same time he doesn't. And his personality is also way different than the werehog.</p><p>For starters, Sonic's fur is a darker shade of blue, almost navy blue. His fur is fluffier, well, as fluffy as it can be when it's matted with tangles and dried blood. His cheeks, chest, and hands are all a light icy blue. His nails are practically claws now. His ears are bigger and his snout has a wolf like appearance. His quills are longer and a lot sharper, and they travel all the way down to his lower back, getting smaller the lower they went. His tail is also a few inches longer as well.</p><p>His eyes are still the same emerald green Tails remembers. It's the emotion in them that's changed. They aren't proud and bubbly and happy anymore. They're cloudy and troubled and tortured. Sonic's eyes have always been a window into his soul, even now. And Tails doesn't like seeing the once brightly burning flame of Sonic's soul being reduced to a smoldering black and red ember.</p><p>Sonic had almost died multiple times through the procedure to try and save him. It was almost impossible to stop the bleeding from the gaping hole in his side, not to mention trying to fix the multiple bones shattered from the hit Amy had delivered. Luckily with both Tails and Kylo, they managed to get Sonic stable. They stitched up his side and reset all his bones, though he needed multiple pins. Tails had been surprised to see that his bones already had a few pins here and there, showing that he had broken them before.</p><p>Amy had even stepped in to help when things started going south. She provided some blood bags she had taken from the hospital she works at. She had even stopped by the hospital for some machines to make things easier. She couldn't get all of it, but she did get enough. She got an IV, a minny heart monitor, and an oxygen machine along with an oxygen mask.</p><p>Tails doesn't know why she all of a sudden wanted to help. She was still acting hostile at the idea of helping Sonic, and yet she helped anyways.</p><p>He sighs, shoulders dropping as his eyes roam to Sonic's face once more. He looks...okay. He doesn't look all tense and stressed out like he had before. He doesn't look peaceful either. Somewhere in the middle. He's completely still, save for the slow rise and fall of his chest due to the oxygen machine breathing for him.</p><p>"Oh Sonic, what happened to you?" Tails wonders aloud, tears blurring his vision once more. He sniffles and stands up, stretching as he does so. He looks to a clock sitting on his worktable not too far away. "It's already 11:34? Huh, I hadn't realized it was that late."</p><p>Tails sighs and walks over to his workbench. He takes off the apron, his gloves, and the goggles atop his head. He turns off the light and heads over to his broken down mattress and thin blankets. With one last look at Sonic, Tails crawls into bed and curls up under the dirty blanket, hopeful to get some sleep.</p><hr/><p>When had it become this broken? This distorted? This...evil? Nothing is the same anymore. No one is <em>safe</em> anymore. No human, and definitely not any mobians. It doesn't matter what anyone does, what anyone says, it'll never get better. Everyone knows this, even if they don't want to actually admit it.</p><p>Some still have hope. Hope that their beloved hero will return one day and make everything better. Hope that their hero will spread his light through the whole world again. To defeat the thick acid of corruption in the government, to make everything right again.</p><p>They're too scared to accept anything other than that. But what is there to live for when the hope is gone from the world? Hope is the one thing that gives things life. It's what keeps the grass green, it's what keeps your heart beating in your chest. Without it, everything withers away. You might as well crawl into a ditch and die if there's no more hope. Because what's left after hope?</p><p>Hope is surely one thing this city, no, this whole <em>world </em>is sorely missing. It's proof of that as the hedgehog looks out over the ruined and broken city. His arms are crossed loosely over his chest, eyes narrowed. The buildings are worn down and tilted, nothing left of them. He rarely ever ventures into the city anymore. There's nothing there anyways, so why waste his time?</p><p>It's just pitiful, watching everyone there slowly rot away with their false hope that the hero would return one day. Their blue blur, reviving everything with just the touch of a hand. As if he was Jesus or something.</p><p>A bitter scoff crawls up his throat at the thought. It sure seems that way sometimes. Jesus lasted a while, making everything better and saving people. But, as everyone knows, good things always come to a gruesome end, and Jesus was killed, leaving behind pure chaos in his dead footsteps. And that's exactly what happened with Sonic the Hedgehog.</p><p>Shadow's never really been a religious person. He believes that when you die, you're just dead. And that's that. It had come as a surprise when Sonic had turned up missing. No one was ever able to catch him, to officially get rid of him. He would always manage to find some way to escape. But as the years wore on, Shadow had little hope that the famous hero would ever return.</p><p>He had helped the others try and find Sonic. In fact, Team Dark had been the head team searching for Sonic. They had been desperate to find him, as much as Shadow hates to admit that. Sonic really is seemingly the soul of the world, the heart of the city. It seemed true with how everything slowly got worse and worse with time. With Sonic there, it would have never gotten this bad.</p><p>Shadow grits his teeth as he feels anger bubbling up in his chest. But he's not angry with Sonic. He's angry at himself. If he had just been faster, if he had gotten there sooner, none of this would have happened. Sonic would have been safe. He would've been back to winning each and every battle he takes part in. He would've even managed to fix the corruption of the government.</p><p>He can't get the look on Sonic's face out of his mind. The last time he saw the annoying blue pest. The uncharacteristic begging for Shadow to save him, to hurry up before the guards came back. But Shadow had been too slow. It was a trap, and he had walked right into it. He and his team had barely escaped with their lives, while Sonic...well, Shadow will never forget those bloodcurdling screams.</p><p>"Shadow," a voice says behind him. Shadow doesn't even turn to face his teammate as she walks up beside him, looking out at the city. "The commander said you're not answering your communicator. Is something wrong?"</p><p>Shadow doesn't answer. He looks to Rouge out of the corner of his eye. Her brow is drawn together with worry, a frown pulling at her delicate lips. His eye lingers on the jagged scar running down the right side of her face. It starts a few centimeters above her left eye, then comes down over her eyelid and down he whole left side of her cheek, stopping just under her left collarbone.</p><p>"Shadow?" Rouge asks, the frown deepening. "You seem troubled. Are you okay?"</p><p>With a huff, Shadow looks back out over the city. Guilt sits like a heavy stone in his chest. He hates feeling these things, they drag him down, distract him from the task at hand. He wasn't used to them before, but five years is a long time to sit with these emotions. You tend to get used to them after a while.</p><p>"Is it about...?" Rouge trails off, a tenderness to her velvety voice. Shadow takes a deep breath, and then proceeds to hate himself with how it's impossible to control one's emotions. Rouge can read him so well, and he hates that. She's his closest friend. They've been on the same team for a long time. They sometimes don't even need words for conversations anymore with how close of friends they are.</p><p>"Oh hun," Rouge sighs, shaking her head. Shadow pointedly keeps his eyes trained on the city. "You've gotta stop beating yourself up over this. It isn't your fault. How could you have known-"</p><p>"Just stop, Rouge." Shadow says, turning his head to look at her. Rouge immediately closes her mouth, not saying anything more on the subject.</p><p>Shadow hates how vulnerable he must look right now. It makes him sick to his stomach, but there's nothing he can do about it. He'd just have to pick his head up and keep moving forwards, no matter how heavy that stone of guilt weighs him down.</p><p>Sometimes, he wonders why he still keeps moving.</p><p>Rouge clears her throat after giving Shadow a moment. "There's been a new mission for us. It's-we should head over to H.Q. soon, so we're not late. Omega is already headed over there."</p><p>"Alright." The two turn and make their way slowly down the hill, passing by shriveled up trees and rotting black grass. The silence is almost unbearable with how eerie the forest is. There isn't even a bird chirping anymore.</p><p>"Hey, Rouge?" Shadow asks slowly as he comes to a stop. She takes a few steps forwards before turning around to face him, quirking up a brow in silent question. Shadow awkwardly looks away, clearing his throat. "Do you...do you think he's still alive?"</p><p>A sad look melts in Rouge's eyes as she moves closer. She places a hand on Shadow's shoulder, getting Shadow to look her in the eye. She gives a soft smile as she says, "I <em>know </em>he is. Something like that isn't strong enough to kill big blue. I'm sure he's out there somewhere, Shadow. We just gotta keep lookin'."</p><p>Shadow gives a small nod, not trusting himself to say anything. It taking all he has to not let the unwanted sting of tears invade his eyes.</p><p>"Now, lets go get that new mission, shall we?" Rouge says, stepping away. They start walking once more, though this time the silence feels a little lighter.</p><p>Without stopping, Rouge turns her head to look at Shadow and says, "don't worry about it, hun. I know Sonic doesn't blame you."</p><p>That's the fifth time in Shadow's life where he's felt so overwhelmed with emotions that he wants to curl up in a corner and cry them all out.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Experiment S-H-16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Team Dark gets assigned a special mission to bring back a runaway Obexian.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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    <p></p>
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      <p>The Head Quarters of G.U.N. consist of a large dark colored building. There are numerous military and government vehicles parked outside with a few groups of humans sprinkled here and there. Barely any of them bat an eye at the two mobians as they enter the area, heading towards the two large double doors leading inside the building.</p>
      <p>Right outside those double doors stand Omega. His red eyes immediately lock onto Shadow and Rouge as they come into eyesight.</p>
      <p>Shadow glances dismissively around the area. Nothing has changed the last hundred times he's seen this place, and he knows nothing will ever change. Well, at least for a long time anyways. Nothing really changed over the five years that Sonic's been gone, besides the fact that all the mobians that had been working under G.U.N. had all been either imprisoned and executed, or fired and kicked out to live on the streets.</p>
      <p>The only reason Shadow and his team are still part of G.U.N. is because Omega refused to work with any other team without Rouge and Shadow. The government also wanted to keep an eye on the two mobians so they don't cause trouble or go around unsupervised, destroying everything. Not that it matters anyways, the city is already destroyed, and the rest of the world is soon to follow.</p>
      <p>"Hey Omega," Rouge says as the two come to a stop in front of the tall robot.</p>
      <p>"Greetings Rouge, Shadow." Omega notes, his eyes going to Rouge and Shadow as he says their names. "Shadow, my system has noted a difference in mood. Do you still want to proceed with this meeting?"</p>
      <p>"I'm fine." Shadow answers curtly, glaring at the robot in front of him. "Let's just get this over with."</p>
      <p>"Understood. We will proceed to the meeting." Omega says and turns. He opens the door, allowing the two to enter the building before he walks in behind them.</p>
      <p>The walk is quiet as they travel down the many levels and hallways of the building. Their chief commander had retired. He was replaced by a no nonsense type of guy. Sure, their first one was the same, except this new person is, well...harsher. In a sense. He doesn't allow any room for mistakes, and Team Dark has had to pay a few times over the years for missing a deadline or getting injured on a mission.</p>
      <p>Shadow hates him even more than he hated the first guy. In fact, the new commander is probably one of the top people on his list of "<em>People I Hate". </em>And that's saying something.</p>
      <p>They stop in front of a thick wood door. Shadow looks to Rouge as she raises her hand and knocks against the surface. They stand there silently. It only takes five seconds before they get the okay to enter the room.</p>
      <p>"Ah, Team Dark," the man at the desk says, looking up from paperwork. He crosses his fingers and sits up straight in his swivel chair. His facial expression is blank, but Shadow can still see the malice coursing through those dark brown eyes. There isn't a second that goes by where Shadow wants none other than to rip this man's eyeballs straight out from his head, snapping the delicate nerve connections as he does so. On the worse days, Shadow would imagine pulling one out at a time, popping it in his hand before he pulls the other out.</p>
      <p>"Good to see you're doing well, Commander." Rouge comments as she and Shadow sit on the two cushioned chairs in front of the desk. Omega stands behind them after closing the door.</p>
      <p>The room is fairly large, which isn't surprising seeing as this man is the head head commander. The walls are colored a simple off white and the carpet is a dark gray. The desk the commander is sitting at is dark red, polished wood. There's a computer monitor sitting in the corner, along with multiple stacks of paper though the desk somehow looks neat. There is a desk lamp sitting beside the monitor, currently turned off, and there is an open case file right in front of the man.</p>
      <p>There are a few fake plants here and there, mostly to take up space and add a splash of color here and there. There are tall bookshelves side by side, the same material as the desk. On the bookshelves are books all different shapes and sizes and colors. They look very expensive and most of them have golden lettering down the spines.</p>
      <p>There is a window behind the man, allowing natural light to flood into the room, while it also gives a nice view of the courtyard below. There are multiple filing cabinets on both sides of the window.</p>
      <p>All in all, the room has nothing personal to this man. Except for the gold platted name tag on the desk, of course. The gold is nailed into another solid wood block and on the gold itself are the letters carved <em>"Commander Liam Grayson".</em></p>
      <p><em>"</em>Let's get straight to the point." He says, completely ignoring Rouge's comment. Shadow can see the bat frown out of the corner of his eye, but doesn't comment on it. He can't, he doesn't want to end up living out on the streets, homeless while Rouge and Omega have to fend for themselves in this horrid place.</p>
      <p>The commander intimidates Rouge. Shadow knows she would never admit it, and she never really shows it, but it's very clear from the way she keeps quiet about things around him. Things she would normally argue or point out with the first commander. Not to mention all the creeps that have started working at G.U.N. There hadn't been too many before, but now they're practically countless. Shadow's lost count of how many people he's found trying to talk Rouge into getting into her pants. Someone even tried to pin the bat a few times, though Rouge would have none of it.</p>
      <p>Shadow doesn't trust G.U.N. around Omega, either. He knows that if he's gone, Rouge wouldn't be able to keep the government from doing whatever they want with the robot. Meaning, they would probably rewrite his system and use him as their own personal war machine. Not like they have enough already.</p>
      <p>"Last night there was a report of the escape of an Obexian early last night." Liam explains, his eyebrows furrowing together in seriousness. "We aren't aware of its capabilities, but it is dangerous. You're our top team we send out for these kinds of things, so it's your job to contain it and bring it back to Laboratory 56 where they will deal with it. You will report back to me when the mission is over."</p>
      <p>Shadow holds in an eye roll. It's expected that his team is probably the only one to be able to deal with these matters, but sometimes he wishes there were others. He wants a break at least once in a while. But, it can't be helped.</p>
      <p>"Everything you need will be in this case file," the commander continues, closing the file on his desk. He holds it out and Shadow stands, grabbing the folder. He glances at the black numbers scrawled out on the front of it. It reads "<em>Experiment S-H-16". </em>Shadow frowns, raising a brow at the name and then looks back up at the commander.</p>
      <p>"I'm guessing we have a due date?"</p>
      <p>"Actually, there isn't one for this one." He answers, sounding a bit surprised himself, if not somewhat irritated. "You guys can take all the time you want for this one, though it's better if you complete the mission sooner rather than later. There's no telling what this thing can do to the city."</p>
      <p><em>'What's left of it.' </em>Shadow thinks bitterly as he looks back down at the file. It isn't very thick, there's what feels like a single packet, if not a little more.</p>
      <p>"We'll get right on it," Rouge says after a few moments of tense silence. Shadow hears her stand from the couch, followed by a light touch on his upper arm. He turns his head and sees Rouge gesture towards the closed door with her head. Omega continues standing where he is, waiting for further instruction.</p>
      <p>"Do a good job on this. Under no circumstances are you able to kill the Obexian."</p>
      <p>"Understood," Shadow all but sighs as he turns and starts walking towards the door, case file in hand. "Let's head out, Omega. We have an Obexian to catch."</p>
      <p>Once they leave the room they swiftly make their way through the building. Rouge and Omega follow closely behind Shadow, keeping up with his quick pacing. Shadow doesn't even glance at the people they pass in his haste to be anywhere but there. He isn't in the mood for any of this.</p>
      <p>To Shadow's relief, the break room is empty. So the group makes their way to one of the tables by the window where they can look over the case file and make a plan of action before going through with their newly assigned mission.</p>
      <p>Shadow is the first to plop down on the uncomfortable plastic chair. He slaps down the file onto the table, earning a raised brow from Rouge as she sits down across from him. Omega remains standing directly beside the table, unable to sit in the plastic chairs.</p>
      <p>The team sits there for a long while in tense silence. Shadow can feel their expectant gazes hot on his face as he pointedly looks out the window, arms crossed defensively over his chest. They're waiting for him, he <em>is </em>the leader after all. Not to mention he's the one with the case file. But, for some reason, he can't bring himself to open the file.</p>
      <p>He knows there's just information and possibly pictures he really doesn't want to go over at the moment. He's seen the worst of it before, he's seen what it looks like past the image of "worse". He just doesn't have the mental energy to deal with it right now.</p>
      <p>"Shadow?" Rouge asks, breaking the hedgehog's train of thought. He glances over to her expectant face. "Oh for the love of-I know you're in one of your moods right now, but you really need to focus."</p>
      <p>"I know." Shadow sighs, uncrossing his arms as he looks to the file he had thrown down onto the table. "I...I apologize."</p>
      <p>"Now, let's see what this Obexian is like." Rouge says, her tone light. Shadow can clearly see the discomfort in her eyes, though. He knows she doesn't like these types of missions. She's never really been okay with killing anything, even if it is a bloodthirsty creature aiming to kill her.</p>
      <p>Shadow opens the file and the first thing he sees is a report sitting on top of a small stack of papers. The report is neatly printed out it a font just small enough to fit ti all onto one paper, but big enough to still read. The paper feels fine and sturdy under Shadow's gloves.</p>
      <p>Sighing, Shadow picks up the report and begins to read. <em>"'Test Subject S-H-16 is showing no sign of being affected by Test_Serum_12. There is a final test scheduled on 12 May 2016. Test_Serum_23 is currently under development and will be tested later on in the future. Test Subject S-H-16 will be the first experiment.'"</em></p>
      <p>"This was...three years ago." Rouge says after Shadow pauses. He looks up at her to see a visible shiver run through her body. "Just listening to this..."</p>
      <p>"Yeah." Shadow says lowly, glaring back down at the paper. He knows what it feels like to be an experiment, an object for people to just use instead of an actual living being with thoughts and emotions. It's part of the reason why he blames himself so much for not being able to save Sonic.</p>
      <p>Clearing his throat to try and clear his mind, Shadow continues reading. <em>"'24 August 2016: Experiment_1_Genetic_Data has come to a close. The offspring of Experiment S-H-16 and Experiment C-H-26 are horribly deformed. Half the litter of 4 were dead when delivered. The other two weren't recognizable.'"</em></p>
      <p>"Oh god," Rouge breathes out, covering her mouth with a hand, eyes haunting. Even Shadow has started to feel sick to his stomach the further he reads. "That's just-that's-it's worse than being inhumane."</p>
      <p>"Observation: the parents genetic data was too corrupt to parent offspring." Omega speaks up, the first time in a little while. "From the text it makes it seem that there will be more experiments for offspring. Maybe there are some that managed to survive, in which we could use as blackmail to capture our target."</p>
      <p>"Jesus Omega," Rouge mumbles, shaking her head as she hugs herself. "I'm just...going to pretend to have not heard that."</p>
      <p>"We appreciate the offer, but I don't think that this...that our target will have any parental connection to any offspring that might have possibly lived." Shadow comments as he sets aside the first paper. The pictures below proves his point.</p>
      <p>There are four pictures in total. Shadow's guess is that the pictures are of each of the offspring. The first picture shows a creature so twisted and mutilated it painfully stabs at Shadow's stomach with nausea. The creature has a face sticking out from the side of the head. The eyes are popped out and rotting, half smashed into the still wet fur of the cheeks. The spine looks to be completely twisted, creating a mangled image where the stubby back legs are facing up towards the ceiling while the two longer front legs are bent under the body at a disgusting angle. There are patches of fur missing, showing patchy rotting skin beneath. What throws Shadow off is the deep bite mark in the twisted throat, followed by harsh gashes ripping open the belly to spill the intestines out onto the examination table of which the creature currently lays on.</p>
      <p>The second picture shows another offspring with a deep gouge through the middle of the head. The top head is bent backwards, showing the inside of the dented and deformed skull. There isn't even a brain, it's just hollow and bloody. There are sharp black quills all over the body, and instead of protruding from the body the quills seem to be stabbing the body itself. One of the front legs is twisted completely around with the elbow bone poking out through rotting skin. One of the eyes in the eye socket is filled with disgusting yellow goop, most likely infection. There is also goop crusted around the squashed nostrils. There are more gashes on the body as well as a deep bite mark on the throat.</p>
      <p>"Oh fuck this." Rouge curses, her face going pale when she spots the images. Shadow looks up when he hears Rouge stand. The bat stands with so much force it almost sends the chair falling to the floor behind her, but she can't be bothered to wait and see if it steadies itself or not. She runs over to a black trashcan by the snack counter. She bends over and harsh retching can be heard as she throws up.</p>
      <p>Shadow watches, swallowing thickly. His lips are twisted downwards in a grimace as he looks back to the pictures, forcing him to examine the rest. There might be clues. For what the clues might be, he has no idea.</p>
      <p>The third image is what almost does it for Shadow. The whole inside of the baby is on the outside. Intestines spill out over the table on which it's laying on. The ribs arch high over the concave chest, exposing the dark red heart and one small, light pink lung. Shadow can even see a kidney thrown in there, along with the stomach and some other organs he can't make out. The head is squished, almost like someone smashed it repeatedly with a rock. The eyes are yellow and bulging while there is blood crusted around the mouth. One of its legs is morphed into its side, ripping at the seams. There are ripped intestines and a few other puncture wounds here and there, but the deformities are enough all on their own. The parents probably had little interference with this one.</p>
      <p>The final image gives Shadow somewhat of a breather, though it isn't pretty to look at either. There is a second mouth inside one of the ears while there is one gigantic rotting eye in the middle of the head. The bottom half of the body is missing, but from the angle of which the photo was taken, Shadow is saved from seeing the inside of the poor creature. Around the bottom of the top half are sharp gashes from claws, and there is yet another bite wound on its neck.</p>
      <p>In all these pictures Shadow can't make out the species these babies are supposed to be. They're too morphed and deformed to even make out the general shape of them, let alone what animal they represent.</p>
      <p>A hot flash of rage shoots through Shadow's body. He has to quickly flip the pictures over so he doesn't lose his cool. He can't get over the fact that these are newly born <em>infants</em>. They had barely been in the world for a second before they had to deal with the horrifying experiments conducted on them. Through the parents, the experiments were transferred to the unborn fetuses of the mother, as Omega had theorized.</p>
      <p>"It's just...it's horrible," Rouge suddenly says as she returns to the table. Shadow watches as she sits down at the table across from him, tears misting her eyes as she looks out the window. She hugs herself, wings folded close to her body as she bites her bottom lip. "They're just...they were just babies. They didn't..."</p>
      <p>Shadow shifts uncomfortably, his blast of rage dying down to a dull roar. He doesn't know how to make people feel better. He doesn't even know how to deal with his own emotions half the time, how is he supposed to deal with other people's emotions as well?</p>
      <p>"Do-do you need a minute?" Shadow asks awkwardly, double checking the images to make sure they're flipped upside down. He doesn't want Rouge to throw up again. "We can take a break for today and come back-"</p>
      <p>"No. No, it's-I'm fine." Rouge quickly says, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "What-what else is in there?"</p>
      <p>Shadow's eyes linger on Rouge's face for a second longer before he sighs. He looks back down at the file and shuffles through the papers, his eyes skimming the words. "The rest of it is just...reports on the serums and tests that don't really show any importance."</p>
      <p>"Where there any...any clues in the pictures?" Rouge asks, looking sick at the mention of the horrors held on the innocent slips of paper.</p>
      <p>"Nothing that I saw."</p>
      <p>"Comment: I saw no hidden clues within the pictures." Omega adds.</p>
      <p>"Well, that's just great." Rouge sighs, crossing her arms as she sits back in her chair. "Not only are we running on old data, we don't even know where to find this thing. We don't even know its abilities for crying out loud!"</p>
      <p>Shadow stands up, crossing his arms. Rouge and Omega look to him as he neatly collects all the papers in the file. "We should start with where this thing last was, which is in the forest just outside the city. Apparently there's a laboratory out there, and my guess is that the Obexian has come from there."</p>
    </div>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Missing Clues</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Team Dark starts the search for their target while Tails has more trouble with his client.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm super happy about all the feedback I've been getting, it really means a lot to me. I'm happy to see that people are actually reading and enjoying my stories, not just scrolling through as a means to an end. It really does mean the world to me and it gives me motivation to keep going because I don't want to leave you guys with an unfinished story. So, again, thank you and I hope to hear more thoughts from everyone in the future &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His footsteps are light as he calmly strolls down one of the many bland, white hallways. His hands are held loosely behind his back while a navy blue lanyard gently swings side to side on his neck with each step taken. The lanyard holds his key card, allowing him to get anywhere he wants to in the building. A perk of being one of the top people in charge.</p><p>His voice is a gentle lullaby as he hums to himself, a faint smile stretching his cracked lips. a giddy feeling bubbles up in his chest as he stops in front of a very familiar door. Sure, all the doors in this place look the same, but he mostly uses this door to get to the experiments he's currently working on. Rarely does he ever enter any of the other doors containing failed experiments.</p><p>He removes one of his hands from his back and grabs the key card between his index finger and thumb. He leans forward, pressing the key card against the lock nailed to the wall on the right of the door.</p><p>With the low hum of a beep, the door unlocks with a soft click. The man steps back and releases the key card and turns the doorknob with the same hand. He pushes the door open and steps inside, pulling his hand behind his back once more as he looks down the long rows of shelves lined with all different shapes and sizes of cages.</p><p>The door automatically closes behind him as he starts walking down the closest aisle of cages. A satisfaction like none other fills his stomach as the creatures in the cages cower away fearfully, whimpering.</p><p>He continues humming to himself, enjoying the noises all around him. The blend of low growls, sharp hisses, and high whimpers blend together nicely with his humming, creating a sweet tune one could hum their child to sleep with. But the tapping of his coal-black dress shoes against blood-stained white tiles are the vocals of the song. They stand out nicely against the rest of the noise, creating a sweet melody that you just can't stop listening to.</p><p>He comes to a stop in front of a glass cage, his humming dying down. He turns on his heels to face the cage head-on, his brown eyes gliding downwards in his yellow-stained cornea to look at the creature below. The smile on his lips grows wider, revealing his corn yellow teeth and rotting gums.</p><p>The creature is crouched low to the floor of the cage. A shadow is cast from the top of the cage which blocks out the light, preventing the scientist from making out any detail on the fur of the creature. But he's seen this experiment plenty times before to know every single detail about her without even having to lift a pinky of effort.</p><p>Her sharp orange eyes watch the man warily, her long tail hovering frozen in the air behind her. The fluffy, circular ears atop her head are angled forwards, listening to every sound he makes. Razor-sharp white claws press uselessly against the already scratched up metal floor.</p><p>"Ah, nice to see you're still alive and kicking." The man chuckles, his words slimy with mucus lodged in the back of his greasy throat. He leans even closer until his face is just inches within the metal bars containing the creature before him. But he knows she will do nothing, for she's already been broken, forced to obey every command thrown at her. "Just wait, my pretty little project. Your time to shine is coming."</p><hr/><p>The laboratory isn't very hard to find. It's at the heard of the forest, though isn't being hidden all too well. Disappointingly enough, there's no one there to answer the questions of Team Dark. In fact, the place is seemingly abandoned, completely void of any sign of any lifeforms.</p><p>In fact, there really isn't any sign anyone had <em>been </em>there in the first place. The building is completely empty. There isn't any equipment in the many rooms inhabiting the building. All the computer hard-drives had been either deleted or removed and Omega is unable to recover any of the files.</p><p>The whole place reeks strongly of bleach and harsh cleaning products. Shadow guesses that whoever had been here had made sure to thoroughly clean the whole place. As for why they would do that is a complete blank for Shadow.</p><p>They all regroup back outside the laboratory after searching inside. Shadow can't express how grateful he is to finally breathe in the fresh air again. Well, as fresh as it'll get with the ruins of the city not too far away. The smell of rusting metal and pure rot is carried over the wind into the forest, leaving faint traces of the scent here and there.</p><p>"That gave us nothing." The frustration is clear in Rouge's voice as she kicks at a small pebble on the ground. "Now what?"</p><p>"We might as well head back into the city," Shadow says. He crosses his arms and looks up at the gray sky in thought. It's currently late morning. While it didn't take them too long to actually find the laboratory, it did take them a little while to fully investigate the place. It's a lot bigger on the inside than how it looks on the outside.</p><p>"Observation: there is a trail leading into the forest." Omega suddenly says. Shadow's ears perk up and he looks to Omega. The robot points a sharp finger to a multitude of harsh footsteps in dried mud not too far away. The closer the team gets, the better Shadow can see the detail of the trail.</p><p>The footsteps are too muddled together for Shadow to appropriately tell who they belong to. He can make out the paw print of a dog here and there, along with the shoe print, but other than that it's all just a messy imprint in the ground. The dirt is cracked, showing that it had been mud previously. Shadow guesses the mud is from the rainfall that had happened early last night.</p><p>"Good job hun," Rouge compliments, smiling at the robot.</p><p>"The trail looks to be a little over fifteen hours old," Shadow observes, kneeling down on the ground. "If this is the start of the escaped Obexian last night, it could be anywhere by now."</p><p>"We should follow the trail just in case," Rouge says as Shadow stands back up. "We might find some more clues, maybe a sign as to what happened to our target."</p><p>"Fair point. Let's hope we find something good, and if not, we'll search the city next."</p><p>"Mission Update: follow the trail into the forest in search of any sign of the mission's target," Omega says professionally.</p><p>"No need to get all formal about it hun," Rouge jokes.</p><p>Shadow starts walking forwards while Rouge and Omega automatically fall into step behind the onyx and red-streaked hedgehog. "Let's go."</p><hr/><p>Tails wakes up in the early afternoon. It's the most he's slept in a long while, and yet he still somehow feels exhausted. The uncomfortable dryness in his eyes almost convinces him to lay down and go back to sleep, and he would have if not for a sudden realization shooting through his brain like a bullet.</p><p><em>'The project!' </em>He thinks to himself, leaping out of bed. He quickly slips on his shoes and sloppily ties his apron on around his waist.</p><p>He rushes over to the worktable where the project has been sitting for the past few hours, untouched. Tails immediately gets to work, his two tails swishing behind him nervously as he tries to keep his hands steady so as not to mess anything up. He's desperate to finish before 3 'o clock rolls around.</p><p>But these things take time, sadly. He can't rush in fear that he'll somehow ruin something. So instead he settles for cursing at the fact that he had forgotten to set an alarm last night. He had been too exhausted, and to be honest, the thought of the project had completely slipped his mind altogether with the events that had taken place.</p><p>Tails pauses and turns around to see the reason that caused the events to happen last night.</p><p>Sonic lays unmoving on the table, his chest slowly rising and falling as the oxygen machine breathes for him. A gentle, quiet beeping is the only noise in the whole building; a dull replica making the heartbeat sound more robotic than alive. Growing up he's come to learn to get used to the beeping of machinery, seeing as Sonic sometimes got injured during his many missions to stop Eggman from destroying the world. That doesn't mean he loves the sound, however.</p><p>He tries to force back the tears suddenly stinging his eyes. He quickly turns back to the project at hand, trying to busy himself in order to escape the thoughts whirling around in his mind. Though, no matter how hard the little fox kit tries, he still can't get away from the thoughts in his own mind.</p><p>The main thought is that he can't blame Sonic for any of this, even if he probably should. He doesn't even feel an inch of anger towards his adoptive older brother. He knows Sonic too well, he knows the hedgehog would never abandon anyone, let alone his friends. And Sonic would <em>never </em>abandon Tails, even after a rare argument shared between the two.</p><p>There's suddenly the dull chirp of a bell, notifying Tails of someone entering his workshop. He pauses in his work, one of his large ears twitching in the direction of the open doorway as he listens to the footsteps of whoever had just entered.</p><p>The heavy footsteps and quiet, angry muttering of a familiar voice sends freezing shivers raining down Tails' spine. He stands there, unable to move with a screwdriver still held in one hand. His eyes slowly drift back down to the small item on the table and he swallows thickly with nervousness.</p><p>"Hey, fox brat!" The voice shouts. "You better have that commission done!"</p><p>Tails' hand shakes as he slowly lowers the screwdriver onto the worktable beside the object. Unconnected wires stick out from a few of the sides of the square, metallic box. Some of the plating isn't even put on, showing of the unprotected hard drive inside. It shines weakly in the dull light of the backroom, almost as if taunting Tails about the fact that the fox hadn't been able to finish it on time.</p><p>"Hurry it up, I don't got all day!"</p><p>The kit slowly takes in a shuddering breath, trying to control the nervous twisting of his two namesakes behind him as he looks to the open doorway once more. But despite how hard he tries, he can't make his feet obey to the panicking orders his brain shoots through his body. And instead of walking out to meet the customer, his sky blue eyes suddenly travel over to where Sonic is still laying.</p><p>Tails wishes so badly that the hedgehog would magically wake up and fix all this. To chase off the bad guys and reclaim the city like he always does. But all Tails gets instead is a mouthful of hopelessness sprinkled with disappointment when the lost hero doesn't even twitch a finger.</p><p>"You hear me? Get your ass out here before I make you!" The man shouts once more, pulling Tails away from his wishful thinking.</p><p>With a slow, deep inhale and exhale, Tails finally slowly makes his way from the backroom out to the main area of the shop. It comes as no surprise when he sees Henry Harris standing on the other side of the checkout counter, impatiently drumming his meaty hands against the dirty surface.</p><p>Henry looks less than thrilled with Tails steps into his line of sight. The burly man is leaning over on the counter, eyebrows pulled down over his narrowed eyes as he watches the fox kit slowly shuffle over to stand behind the counter. The sour frown on his face only darkens when his eyes travel down to Tails' empty hands.</p><p>"Where is it?" Henry asks slowly, his tone of voice sending little pins of dread scratching down his spinal column.</p><p>"U-um..." Tails' voice cracks and he desperately tries to calm the fear coursing through his veins. "Something...came up last night so I haven't...had time to finish."</p><p>"You're serious?" Henry asks with a breathless chuckle, eyes wide with surprise. His mouth hangs open with a flabbergasted smile stretched on his cracked lips. He pushes himself off the counter and says, "sure you've been late for deadlines before, but I never actually thought you wouldn't get it done."</p><p>"Look, it's almost done. I just need an hour-"</p><p>"What am I supposed to do when I turn up empty-handed? Huh!?" Henry suddenly explodes, slamming his large hands down onto the counter.</p><p>Tails flinches away, his ears flattening against his head while his two tails tuck between his legs in fear. "I-I'm sorry! Please, I promise I-I'll-"</p><p>"You've had your chances, fox cunt!" Henry turns and storms towards the only door leading in and out of the building. "I warned you about what would happen if you failed. I'll be back."</p><p>Henry all but walks out the door, slamming it behind him despite the fact the door closes on its own. The departure leaves Tails feeling sick. He can't do anything. He just lost his main route of income, not to mention Henry is coming back to most likely trash the place as revenge. Like he said he would do.</p><p>Tails feels completely useless. He <em>is </em>useless. Once again he finds himself unable to do anything but whine like a little baby, hoping for Sonic to swoop in and save the day at the last second.</p><p>The thought brings tears to Tails' eyes once more as he slowly makes his way to the back room. He pulls over a chair from his worktable and sits down beside the makeshift operating table Sonic is currently laying on. Still completely motionless and oblivious to the world around him.</p><p>"This is all just a...a shitstorm," Tails curses to himself, trying to angrily wipe the tears away from his fluffy cheeks. He doesn't normally curse, but right now he feels that he kinda has a free card on this one with all the stress he's currently under. Though, to be honest, cursing is probably the least of Tails' worries right now.</p><p>"It's hopeless. I don't even know if you'll survive, Sonic. I'm gonna go bankrupt and on top of all that, Henry and his stupid goons are gonna destroy the place."</p><p>Tails holds his head in his hands, trying to control his shaking and the tears that continue to stubbornly roll down his face. "I-I just...I just want a <em>break. </em>I want you <em>back</em>, Sonic. Then...then you could fix all this."</p><p>The rest of the day is spent with Tails crying in the backroom, begging Sonic to wake up.</p><hr/><p>"Shadow, I found something!" Rouge calls, catching the hedgehog's attention. He stands up from where he's kneeling down on the ground, trying to inspect a faint left imprinted it the mud.</p><p>They had lost the trail when they had gotten to a creek. Everything had been washed away from here on out, so Team Dark had split up to try and find more clues as to what had happened last night. To be honest, this whole ordeal is starting to give the Ultimate Lifeform a headache.</p><p>Shadow swiftly skates over to Rouge's side. She's standing just outside a little overhang of flat rocks, a few vines hanging down over the sides. Water still drops from the small green leaves, another telltale sign of the rainfall that had happened last night. Luckily, the rainfall had happened before the escape from last night, which gave the group a better trail to follow.</p><p>Rouge is holding a bullet with a white handkerchief, splotches of red staining the delicate fabric. Shadow has a tugging in his head that tells him the red is blood. What else could it be, anyway? Ketchup?</p><p>Shaking his head to try and force away the sarcastic thought, he directs his attention to Rouge. "A bullet? Where was it?"</p><p>"In there." Rouge gestures with her head inside the little cave-like area hollowed out in the side of the steep hill. "There's a lot of blood in there, too. Sadly it's all dried up and looks to be a few hours old."</p><p>Shadow carefully inspects the bullet, his sharp eyes trying to pick up any trace of anything he might possibly find. What he's looking for, he doesn't know. It is a simple bullet, after all, so it comes as no surprise when all he finds is the blood coating the small piece of metal.</p><p>"We can have Omega try and analyze the blood from the bullet when we get to the city," Rouge suggests, taking a small ziplock baggie from a pocket on her camo cargo pants. She carefully slips the bullet into the bag with the handkerchief and securely zips it closed. She hands it over to Shadow who slips it into his quills for safekeeping.</p><p>"You know, I still wonder how you hedgehogs can store stuff in your quills like that," Rouge comments playfully, nudging Shadow's side. "You're like a living breathing storage unit."</p><p>Shadow shoots a dry glare at Rouge, clearly telling her he isn't in the mood for joking around at the moment. All Rouge does is shake her head, slipping a hand on her hip with a slight shake of her head.</p><p>"We should meet up with Omega." Shadow says after a moment of somewhat tense silence.</p><p>"Right." Rouge nods, sighing. He can see the disappointment clearly swimming around in those teal eyes of hers, and there's a small guilty poke at his heart. He knows all she's trying to do is cheer him up a bit, lighten the mood. But sadly, Shadow isn't one for joking around or small talk. Or anything, for that matter. So Rouge's attempts at brightening the red-streaked hedgehog fall flat on its face each time Shadow shoots them down.</p><p>"When we find Omega we should head to the city," Shadow says as the two start to climb up the steep walls of the creek bed. "I don't think we'll find anything else in the forest."</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Battle In The City</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Silver aids the Freedom Fighters in the battle to hopefully try and get them on the winning streak.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sky is as bleak as ever as golden eyes look up to the dark gray clouds above. They look almost as if to be sick, completely different from the joyful fluffy puffs of white they used to be. Like a proud hero fallen from grace way too many times to come back.</p><p>Sure, he's seen the same clouds from his timeline, but never in this one. He's been here a while, yes, but that doesn't mean the dirty looking clouds don't make him extremely uncomfortable. It's like a streak of black on a pristine white wall, clearly not supposed to be there and yet impossible to get rid of.</p><p>Silver the Hedgehog stands outside one of the many bases he's managed to help build over the past two, almost three years. It is nicely hidden just outside a small city, sitting on a tall cliff overlooking the ocean. The gray, foamy waves crash against the cliffside below, creating a thunder all of their own. The wind pulls at his fluffy fur as he stands a few feet away from the edge of the jagged edge.</p><p>He's shivering uncontrollably due to the cold, but he doesn't mind all too much. Having spent his whole life in a burning hellscape with lava as the cake, fire as the icing, and monsters made from fire and lava as the sprinkles, it's safe to say that experiencing the opposite element is a nice change. But since he's grown up in that environment, Silver's body isn't very accustomed to dealing with the freezing cold weather he comes across now and again in this world.</p><p>He isn't complaining. It's nice to feel like you're not on the verge of being burned alive every 24/7. In all actuality, if Silver was to be honest, the winter season is probably his number one favorite season with spring being a close second. He doesn't know what it is, but winter seems to bring a simple peace all on its own. A wordless truce for those fighting against one another to take it easy during these next couple months.</p><p>Unless you work in retail. Then the winter season is more like a living hell of angry customers and endless overtime.</p><p>"Commander Silver!" A faint voice suddenly calls, pulling said hedgehog from his musings.</p><p>Silver turns around, arms lowering from being crossed over his fluffy chest as he watches the dark form of someone slowly growing more and more visible as they run towards him. As the person grows closer, Silver can identify them as a young raccoon, not yet fully grown. If Silver were to guess, the raccoon is probably a fresh teen, or maybe even still a child. An older child, but a child nonetheless.</p><p>A sudden tug at the metallic colored hedgehog's heartstrings chases away the light mood he had felt just moments before. Now he's left with a gross disturbance weighing heavy in his chest.</p><p>Sure, children aren't allowed to take part in the many battles that start, but they're still standing on the sidelines helping in any way they can. Collecting supplies, helping with treating the injured and sick, even going out to save survivors willing to join the Freedom Fighters. If the adults deem it safe enough to do so, that is. And even though they all choose to help out due to their own free will, it still leaves Silver with an uneasy feeling. To say the least.</p><p>The raccoon comes to a skidding halt in front of Silver, breathing heavily as he gives a shaky salute. He then doubles over, hands on his knees as he desperately fights to catch his breath. It's cold enough that Silver can see the heaving breaths in light, opaque layers whenever the young raccoon exhales.</p><p>"Commander...Silver," he says between gasps. That's all he manages to say before he's sent into a coughing fit. Silver waits patiently for the kid to catch his breath enough to say what he came here to say. And with an expert eye, Silver takes in the appearance of the little raccoon.</p><p>His fluffy, masked face is sleek with sweat, more than likely from the mad dash to find Silver. His striped tail is hanging limply behind him, puffed up to look twice its size. The kid is wearing the typical outfit of a messenger, although it's wrinkled and more on the dirty side.</p><p>The dark olive green buttondown shirt fits nicely on the little raccoon. The sleeves are rolled up just past his elbows and the shirt is wrinkled and sweatstained. The black boots are crusted with dried mud and ash from running through something that Silver guessed had recently burned down.</p><p>There is a messenger bag hanging at the raccoon's hip, colored a light cream to compliment the dark green of the shirt. There is the messenger symbol of a black envelope stitched onto the front right in the middle of the bag. There is also the messenger patch stitched to the right side of the chest of his shirt. There is a little dagger strapped to the outside of his right thigh, an easy reach if ever need be.</p><p>"Commander Silver," the raccoon tries again, sounding a lot better than the previous minute. Silver locks eyes with the young anthropomorphic raccoon as he stands straight once more, giving a stronger salute this time. "I was sent by Commander Sally Acorn to request your immediate backup. A battle has started in downtown Ricksburg."</p><p>Silver presses his lips into a thin line, a troubled look clouding his golden eyes. A battle? But Sally had said the enemy had fallen back and there is a low chance of any battle breaking out after the last one happened only days ago. Is the enemy planning something? And if so, what? Maybe trying to force out the Freedom Fighters fromRicksburg, but Silver has a feeling they want more than just that.</p><p>"Thank you, er...what's your name?" Silver asks awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile.</p><p>"The name's Scrap!" The little raccoon says brightly, a proud smile growing on his young face. "A top messenger of the Freedom Fighters, sir."</p><p>"Is that so?" Silver chuckles, smiling down at the kid. "Well, so far to me it seems you're doing a really good job."</p><p>"I-I am?" Scrap asks, rounded ears perking forward. "I-I mean, of course I am, sir! I never slack, not once!"</p><p>"Good to hear we have such determined Freedom Fighters," Silver ruffles the tuft of fur atop the head of the raccoon. "Thank you for giving the message. I'll head over to the battlefield right now. Keep up the good work, kiddo!"</p><p>"Yes, sir!"</p><p>And with that, Silver lifts himself with his telekinetic abilities. He shoots one last cheeky grin at the kid before shooting off in the sky, flying at full speed towards the city. Sure, he's not as fast as Shadow or Sonic, but he still isn't one to take lightly for speed. Sometimes, when he's desperate to get somewhere fast, he's been able to create a sonic boom. But, of course, that's only ever happened once or twice in his life.</p><p>Silver gets to the battlefield in just under two minutes. He lands atop one of the buildings just outside the fight, inspecting the current situation going on below.</p><p>There is a large number of warriors on both sides of the spectrum. The Freedom Fighters seem to be struggling, though, as the enemy uses their better weapons and equipment to mow down the opposite side. Silver even spots a tank here or there, slowly moving forwards while the people below dodge out of the way so as not to be crushed.</p><p>Not all hope is lost, though, seeing as the Freedom Fighters have some of their strongest fighters on the battlefield. Silver can see the long tail of his friend, Tangle the lemur as she fights through the forces with a determined excitement gracing her face. She hasn't noticed Silver yet, but her more observant partner, Whisper the Wolf, had. She shoots a shy smile at Silver from the roof of a building a little ways away.</p><p>Silver shoots his own smile at her before she gets back to the task at hand, supporting anyone who needs it.</p><p>Sally is also down one the ground in the middle of it all, using her gun as she shouts orders to the troops around her. She moves with practiced expertise, dodging every attack thrown at her.</p><p>After the quick analysis of the battle going on below, Silver decides the best way for him to help is to take care of the tanks. So, he raises himself into the air once more with his powers and flies over the battle below. He can't help but feel a happiness bubble up in his chest as multiple loud cheers are heard below when he's finally spotted by the Freedom Fighters.</p><p>Silver hovers above the first tank. His brow is drawn down in a seriousness not unseen before. He presses his lips together and holds his hands out, palms facing the destructive vehicle. He can feel the power bubbling in the pit of his stomach, spreading warmth up through his arms where it collects at the palms of his hands, causing the glowing rings in his hands to shine even brighter with the increased power.</p><p>A glowing turquoize immediately surrounds the tank below. Silver grits his teeth, straining at the weight from the vehicle as he raises it into the air, preventing it from shooting any weapons into the fighting warriors below. He can hear the screams of the unsuspecting soldiers inside as they're lifted off the ground, but Silver could care less at the moment.</p><p>With the simple movement of his hands off to the side and an extra rush of power, he sends the tank flying through the air. It crashes through the middle of a building not too far away, causing it to collapse in on itself. There is no one around the building, so Silver doesn't have to worry about pulling anyone out of the way so as not to get injured from the falling debris.</p><p>Slowly, Silver makes his way from one tank to the next, doing the exact thing to each of them. Of course, his powers have gotten stronger over the years, but that doesn't mean he's completely mastered them yet. Which makes this a slower process than what he would have liked.</p><p>He's starting to somewhat feel the mental strain from living and throwing the tanks which feel like they weigh more than a ton. It takes all his concentration, so he doesn't notice someone aiming a gun at the back of his head from within the battlefield.</p><p>"Silver behind you!" A voice shouts, followed by a bang that is almost drowned out from all the other noise going on.</p><p>The surprise catches Silver off guard, causing him to lose concentration. He drops the current tank he's holding, causing it to fall to the ground with a heavy <em>bam</em>. Luckily, the people that had been surrounding the tank had dispersed the second Silver had picked it up, so no one got hurt.</p><p>Silver quickly whirls around, his rich eyes easily spotting Sally standing tall atop an overturned semi-truck. She is holding her still smoking pistol in one hand, the other on her hip as she stares at the human she had just shot down with an unreadable expression swimming in her diamond blue eyes.</p><p>Silver himself avoids looking at the soldier as he makes his way over to Sally. He isn't one for violence, though he also knows that in a war, it's either kill or be killed. That doesn't help his guilty conscience from attacking him at night when he's trying to sleep.</p><p>"Thanks," Silver says as he lands swiftly beside the squirrel.</p><p>"No problem. Wouldn't want my second in command shot down. That wouldn't be very good." Sally jokes, her hand falling from her hip as she blows away the smoke from the tip of her pistol. "I could see you were caught up with something."</p><p>"Heh, yeah." Silver chuckles sheepishly, rubbing his upper arm. He clears his throat, a seriousness hardening in his eyes. "How's everything doing on our end?"</p><p>"Honestly? We're not doing too good." Sally answers with a heavy sigh, looking out at the fighting once more. "Our troops haven't recovered from the last battle a few days ago, meaning we're short of people. Not to mention we're short on supplies."</p><p>Silver frowns, his eyes drifting over the battlefield just like Sally's. And, true to her word, the Freedom Fighters aren't doing too good. They're slowly but surely being pushed back towards the forest, towards their base.</p><p>Multiple Freedom Fighters are hiding on the sidelines, suffering from their wounds. He doesn't even want to think about how many bodies are littering the ground at this point. He doesn't know how long the battle has been going on, but the Freedom Fighters are looking exhausted.</p><p>"We're mostly on the defense," Sally says, pulling Silver from his gruesome thoughts. "We're just...trying our best not to retreat."</p><p>Silver can hear the unsaid words in her voice. The way she flexes her fingers on her gun, her ears twitching and eyes flickering back and forth across the battle. They can't retreat, because if they do, it'll mean their base will be found. Which would lead to an all-out slaughter.</p><p>"I'll keep working on getting rid of the tanks," Silver says after a moment. A determined spark burns in his eyes like wildfire, his back straightening as more adrenaline courses through his veins. "Hopefully that'll give us a better chance."</p><p>"I'll cover you to make sure no one tries sneaking up on you again."</p><p>"Right."</p><p>Silver lifts himself into the air once more, a familiar glow surrounding his entire body. He quickly flies over to the tank he had dropped only a few short minutes ago. It hasn't moved, seeing as the wheels had been crushed when it had hit the ground. It is now just shooting bullets into the crowd, not caring who it hits.</p><p>Like before, Silver swiftly raises the tank, collects the power into his palms, and sends the tank flying off over a cluster of tall buildings.</p><p>Everything is going smoothly. It takes a little while, but Silver is effectively finishing off the last of the tanks. He has heard the occasional gunfire from Sally as she guards his turned back.</p><p>It sends a rush of excitement at the fact that he has allies he can rely on. People he can trust to protect him while he protects them. A loyalty tying him like a long rope to all of his allies. Friends, almost family in some cases. And Silver vows that he will do the best he can to protect them all. He refuses to leave anyone behind and trusts that the others will make sure that he won't fall behind.</p><p>
  <em>'It's what Blaze would do, and it's what I intend to do now.'</em>
</p><p>With the last of the tanks gone, Silver shoots a quick thumbs up to Sally before falling back to stand atop the building where Whisper is still currently kneeling. The sniper in her grasp smoking from a shot only seconds before.</p><p>"Everything going okay on your part?" Silver asks, looking to the wolf beside him.</p><p>"Yes, thank you." She, as her name suggests, whispers to her metallic colored commander. "What about you?"</p><p>"I just finished up with the last of the tanks. Hopefully, it'll help push back-"</p><p>An explosion sends the ground shaking uncontrollably, causing multiple people on both fighting sides to fall, unable to keep their balance. A sharp shockwave cuts across the battlefield like a broadsword, pushing back the rest that had remained standing nearby.</p><p>It isn't big, but it's big enough to cause a fair amount of damage.</p><p>Thick black smoke wafts up towards the sky, mingling with the clouds and making them even darker than before. There is a faint yellow-orange glow at the base of the smoke, though the flames that are most likely there are covered by the thickness of the smoke.</p><p>The battlefield is pure chaos now. Those that haven't retreated are fighting with much more vigor than before, shouting harsh battle cries as they charge at one another. Those who have guns stand back, hiding behind large chunks of debris as they shoot into the fighting, trying to hit their targets as best they can. Everyone is moving a lot more desperately, looking like a crowd stampeding into the local Wal-Mart on Black Friday.</p><p>Silver and Whisper manage to keep their feet planted firmly atop the roof of the building, though the same can't be said for the building itself.</p><p>Dread tugs painfully at the bottom of Silver's stomach as he feels the trembling rock through the unstable building. It pulls shrieks of metal as they bend and snap in half. A loud crumbling sound as the concrete at the base of the building begins to give away, causing the building to sharply lurch forwards.</p><p>It starts slow as it begins falling, and quickly starts falling faster and faster as gravity curls her cold fingers around it like a toy, yanking it down.</p><p>"Brace yourself!" Silver shouts to Whisper as the building bends forwards. His boots scrabble uselessly against the smooth concrete of the roof as he tries to stay on the building. Beside him Whisper does the same, her normally closed eyes wide with scared desperation to not fall and be crushed by the building.</p><p>Seeing as it's a losing battle trying to run up the now almost vertical roof, Silver quickly jumps away and catches himself mid-jump, floating a few feet above the roof. His heart hammers quickly against his chest, almost as if trying to bash a nail into his ribcage. He doesn't have time to take a breather, however, as he watches Whisper's boot slip.</p><p>With a startled yelp, the wolf starts sliding down the roof in a blur of light orange and brown. Her clawed fingers scratch desperately at the concrete and her tail flails about behind her as she struggles for a good foothold to stop her fall.</p><p>From the battle below, a single cry pierces through the thick smoke-filled air. "WHISPER!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Losing Battle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Freedom Fighters are slowly losing the battle against government soldiers. Sally runs into some trouble.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry it's been forever since I've last updated! Everything's been kinda crazy with this whole COVID-19 virus. I mainly write this story in a journal at school then type it all up onto my laptop to publish on FF, and then you guys would get the next two chapters, but since school is out for like a month, I can't write in school. For some reason, it's one of the best times I can focus on this story and actually get ideas in. We're supposed to go back on the 20th of this month (April) so hopefully, I'll get back to regularly updating the story again. Thanks for being patient with me!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Silver doesn't think. Pure adrenaline and reflexes control his body as a hand shoots up, his palm glowing brighter as he focuses his energy. A gentle glow encircles Whisper's body mid-fall, catching her a few feet above the ground.</p><p>The building above her gives a harsh groan as the last of its support snaps. Silver quickly yanks Whisper towards him, flinching at the quiet yelp she gives in the process.</p><p>They hover in the air for a few moments, staring wide-eyed at where Whisper had been moments before. She would have surely been crushed from the building if she hadn't died from the fall.</p><p>A huge light brown dust cloud rises around the crumbled sides of the building, a sharp contrast to the coal-black plume of smoke still rising into the air from the explosion that had gone off only a minute before.</p><p>Silver is half wondering whether Whisper can hear the rapid beating of his heart as he tries to calm the adrenaline shooting like bullets through his body. He sighs with relief when he realizes that yes, both he and Whisper are floating safely above the now-destroyed building, looking more like debris than anything.</p><p>Warily, Silver looks around for another building close by where he can land. Luckily enough, there isn't one too far away, and he aims for it. He carefully flies both himself and Whisper over to the building. They lower onto the flat roof, their feet gracefully touching down on the roof with a heavy exhale of relief.</p><p>"That was a close one," Silver chuckles airly, doubling over with his hands on his knees. "You okay, Whisper?"</p><p>"Yes, I am alright. Are you okay?"</p><p>"Yeah, I just need a few seconds."</p><p>"Whisper!" A new voice suddenly shouts, sounding desperate. Silver straightens and both he and Whisper turn to look at the battle below.</p><p>A light gray and black striped tail shoots out from the battlefield below, wrapping tightly around a pole sticking out of the roof where Silver and Whisper are standing. Only a second later Tangle is seen pulling herself up to the building, soaring high over the endless sea of fighting soldiers below with one powerful jump.</p><p>She lands a bit too fast and stumbles forwards, waving her arms in wide circles so as not to fall flat on her face. Silver has to hold back a chuckle of amusement. He would've laughed if the circumstances were different.</p><p>Once Tangle has recovered she turns on her heels and practically catapults herself to Whisper. She throws her light gray arms over Whisper's neck and buries her face in the wolf's chest. "Whisper! Oh thank <em>god </em>you're okay!"</p><p>Whisper gives Tangle an uneasy smile as she awkwardly pats the head of her best friend. Silver can't help but smile warmly at the sight. An ache tugs at his heart as the actions of Whisper remind him vaguely of Blaze. The way she was so standoffish towards anyone at the beginning.</p><p>Silver bites the inside of his cheek to keep his emotions in check at the thought of Blaze. She had chosen to stay in the future, AKA her timeline, to continue being the guardian of the Sol emeralds. She would've continued going back and forth with Silver, but there was the imminent threat of a major rip in time and space. They either had to choose to say in the past or return to the future, to their timeline.</p><p>Silver had, of course, chose to stay in the past to try and save the future with his friends. He had wanted Blaze to stay with him, but she couldn't due to her duties back at home. Silver had then tried to go with her, but she had convinced him to stay, saying that his friends would most likely need his help.</p><p>The two had had a tearful goodbye with most of the tears coming from Silver's end, and Blaze had left to return to her timeline.</p><p>Silver still misses her sorely, even though it's been four years already, almost five. She is, in a way, Silver's older sister, much like the relationship between Tails and Sonic. It's why Silver had been so adamant about trying to save Sonic at the beginning, he knows what it feels like to lose a sibling. He had wanted to save Sonic as fast as he could to prevent Tails from feeling too much heartache with his missing brother.</p><p>"Thanks for saving her," Tangle's cheerful voice pulls Silver from his thoughts. He had zoned out, not paying attention to what the two had been talking about.</p><p>Realizing he still hasn't said anything, Silver clears his throat awkwardly and says, "y-you're welcome."</p><p>"Do you know what caused it?" Tangle asks, her purple eyes bright with curiosity.</p><p>Whisper simply points with a clawed index finger at the still rising plume of smoke. It isn't as thick as it had been before, Silver notes as he looks in the direction of where Whisper points. The flames at the base have grown bigger, though, and they're now visible through the thinning smoke.</p><p>"Woah!"</p><p>"Where did it come from?" Silver half asks to himself, looking up at the dark clouds above. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Tangle bounces excitedly on the balls of her feet, her tail wagging back and forth with excitement.</p><p>"It was most definitely a bomb from the sky," Whisper says, arms crossed as a troubled frown tugs at the corners of her lips. "I don't think it's here to help us, seeing as we don't have any bomb stashes at any of the bases around the world."</p><p>"True."</p><p>"Whatever it is, imma track it down and smash it to pieces!" Tangle declares, pumping a fist into the air. She starts to quickly trot towards the edge of the building, her tail sweeping back and forth in a large arch behind her as she prepares herself to take off once more. "I swear I'm gonna-"</p><p>Another explosion. It sounds like a porcelain plate shattering against the hard floor of a kitchen, and it feels like a deep slice in between fingers from a hidden knife under the soapy water in a sink.</p><p>Silver and Whisper manage to stay upright, their legs tense as they fight with the shaking of the ground. Tangle, on the other hand, isn't so lucky. She braces herself a second too late, and as a result, falls flat on her face with a loud <em>smack. </em>Followed by a few indignant curses as she struggles and fails to rise to her feet.</p><p>Luckily enough, the building the three mobians are standing on is sturdy enough to take the shockwave and quaking ground. Only a few crumbs of concrete fall from the corner of the roof, but that's the only damage taken.</p><p>Once the episode is over, Tangle leaps to her feet unfazed. She tilts her head back, raises a fist to the sky, and all but shrieks, "whoever dropped that bomb I'll hunt you down and drop a bomb of my own straight on your head!"</p><p>
  <strong>XXX</strong>
</p><p>Sally Acorn kneels atop a car as the third and fourth bombs simultaneously drop from the sky. They aren't big enough to destroy the whole battlefield, of course, seeing as their own people are still down here fighting, but they do take out large chunks of land in one go. Along with a fair number of both the Freedom Fighters and the government soldiers.</p><p>She had seen one of the bombs up close, a small black and red contraption with glowing white buttons. She had seen them explode, sending people flying in all directions, both humans and mobians alike.</p><p>Sally had originally thought a third party had joined the battle, but the cheering from the humans and any lack of a new ground army joining the frantic battle, that theory had quickly been thrown out the window. Whoever's dropping bombs from above just doesn't care who they hit, even if half of the unintentional targets are the humans the Freedom Fighters are fighting against.</p><p>She can't hold back a shiver of disgust as her diamond-sharp eyes watch the battle rage on. All of her Freedom Fighters fighting courageously against the enemy, never giving up despite the odds. She would never recklessly drop bombs onto the battlefield, especially if there was a risk of her own being injured. She would give herself up to the enemy if it meant the war would be over and everything could go back to the way things used to be.</p><p>But alas, that isn't even close to the realm of "possible". So they're stuck with literally fighting for their lives against the government in hopes to overthrow the king reigning over the world to save all of the mobian race. Easier said than done, in Sally's opinion.</p><p>"Commander Sally!" A voice calls, and seconds later a pumba has jumped up onto the roof of the car, breathing heavily. Her light cream-colored fur is sweat matted and her desperate chocolate brown eyes are intensely watching the battlefield, never even once glancing over to look at Sally.</p><p>"Report." Sally automatically orders, only to cringe the second the word leaves her mouth. She would rather ask "how are you?" or "is everyone okay?", not ask for a report on how badly they're losing. But before she can ask either question, the pumba is already answering the order.</p><p>"We are being pushed back due to the bombs and a low number on our part. Many of us are unable to fight due to injuries or...or death. The rest of us are quickly growing exhausted. We are unable to find the location of the bomber, which leads us to believe they have retreated from the battlefield."</p><p>Sally frowns, her brow creasing as she cocks her gun. "Is there any word from home base for backup?"</p><p>"I'm afraid not, ma'am." The pumba wrings her paws uneasily, torn ears twitching every which way atop her head. "The troops back at the base are its only defense at the moment. We don't have enough fighters for backup."</p><p>"Damn." Sally can't help but curse under her breath.</p><p>Movement suddenly flashes in the corner of her eye and her head instinctively snaps in the direction. Lighting reflexes take over as her arm raises almost as if it has a mind of its own, her finger pulling the trigger of the gun she holds.</p><p>Sally doesn't even bat an eye as she watches the bullet fly towards its target, successfully planting itself between the eyes of a government soldier. She watches, eyes emotionless as blood and brain matter spurt out from the fresh hole in his head. The body doesn't even twitch as it crumples to the ground in a heavy heap, dead the second the bullet pierced skin.</p><p>"Gather all the remaining troops you can." Sally orders, blowing the smoke from her gun as she looks back to the pumba who is still wide-eyed and somewhat shaky, her eyes trained on the mangled corpse Sally had just shot. "Create a barrier, fight together. We will not retreat unless absolutely necessary."</p><p>"Yes, ma'am!" With that, the pumba swiftly leaps into the air, lands on the ground, and proceeds to quickly disappear behind a trio of fighting badgers against two humans.</p><p>Once she's sure the pumba is on the safe side, she leaps off of the car and joins battle once more. She ducks under swinging arms, jumps over slashing swords, dodges to the side of flying fists. Adrenaline spreads through her entire body, making all her senses hyperaware of everything around her.</p><p>She can hear the shrill battle cry of both the mobians and humans alike. The loud bang of all types of guns ringing out through tension thick air. The air is filled with so much dirt and dust it's almost suffocating, and the humid heat does nothing to help as the sweat sticks to her body in a sense that all she wants to do is find the closest cold pond to jump in and swim around.</p><p>She's so focused on getting to the other side where her troops are most likely gathering, she doesn't notice a person jump down from above until it's too late.</p><p>With a muted cry, Sally feels a sword rip down the flesh of her whole left arm, successfully making it of no use anymore. Another sword is brought down directly between her ears, though she swiftly lets herself fall to the ground at the very last second.</p><p>She quickly rolls off to the side so the momentum carrying the sword doesn't allow it to bury itself in her shoulder.</p><p>"Ah, nice move, commander." A rich voice says as Sally pushes herself up to her feet with a cringe of pain. The blood running down her arm itches, and she wants nothing more than to run it under a shower of cold water to cool the hot throbbing pain coursing through her entire left arm.</p><p>The person from which the voice came is a tall man standing at about 6"6. He's buff, his clothes looking about ready to burst with how big his muscles are. His hazel eyes are attle hardened, showing cool confidence, a belief that <em>he </em>will most definitely win this battle. His sun tanned skin is covered in ash and dirt from the bomb, sticking nicely to his skin with sweat acting like an adhesive. His ginger brown hair is stringy and sticking against his dirty forehead, though he pays it no mind as he twirls his two swords in his meaty hands.</p><p>"What, no 'hello's'?" He asks, mock hurt in the form of a frown twists on his face. "I <em>truly </em>am hurt."</p><p>"Well, I don't tend to make friends with the enemy." Sally hisses as the two slowly circle one another. Every muscle is coiled in Sally's lithe body as she prepares herself from any attacks that might be thrust her way.</p><p>"Ooh, a feisty one." The man purrs, a wide smile taking place on his face. A coldness runs down Sally's spine, and she feels somewhat sick to her stomach as the man continues smiling his creepy, toothy smile at her. "I'm sure I'll have fun with you, if you survive, of course."</p><p>"You won't even get a chance."</p><p>And Sally springs into action. With a speed akin to that of a cheetah having drunk a full can of Red Bull, she raises her gun and instinctively aims at her opponent's head. Her finger quickly pulls the trigger with a satisfying click, and an all too familiar bang melts into the rest of the battle noises around them.</p><p>Sally's keen eyes quickly pick up the movements of her opponent as he quickly twists to the right. The bullet whizzed right past his left earlobe, centimeters away from hitting its mark. He recovers in only a second and quickly thrusts one of his swords towards Sally's gut.</p><p>The lithe squirrel immediately arches back so as not to get stabbed. The second sword flies at her neck and she has to twist away, ducking under the blade as she does so.</p><p>They continue this dangerous dance of a gun and two swords, locked in a seemingly endless battle between them. Neither is willing to give up, knowing that if they fail, it's their life they'd be losing.</p><p>But Sally is quickly growing tired. She's been in too many battles over the past few months. She hasn't given herself the needed rest in order to refresh herself and heal off wounds. Not to mention the blood loss from the gash in her arm is starting to make her feel dizzy and somewhat nauseated whenever she moves too fast.</p><p>"Give it up, princess! You're no match against my strength!" The human shouts, thrusting his sword forwards once more.</p><p>Sally quickly backflips away, gasping at the searing pain running through the nerves of her arm. She doesn't recover quickly enough, and it's the opening her opponent had been searching for.</p><p>With one strong thrust of the sword, the tip of the blade buries itself deep into Sally's left shoulder. She lets out an involuntary cry, her eyes squeezing shut as she tries to fight off the tears threatening to form in her eyes. The blade gives a little jerk, and Sally gnashes her teeth together to try and ground herself.</p><p>"I've got you-" Sally doesn't give him time to finish his sentence. She flashes a quick smirk, opening her eyes though the pain is still evident in the grimace and the way she stands, body shaking. She still manages to raise her gun and presses it against the arm holding the sword still stabbed into her shoulder. She wastes no time pulling the trigger.</p><p>A scream gushes from his throat as he recoils, pressing a meaty hand against the gushing hole on his right forearm.</p><p>"What was that about having fun?" Sally can't help but mock as she grips the hilt of the sword still currently sticking out from her shoulder. With more than a grimace, she rips the sword from her shoulder.</p><p>"You bitch!" Her opponent shouts, hazel eyes wild as he practically snarls at her. He looks more like an animal that Sally herself does. His lips are twisted back, somehow revealing all the teeth in his mouth and his eyes are cast so far downwards Sally is surprised they aren't completely covering his eyes at this point.</p><p>Thick blood runs down his right arm like a river gone mad. It drips from his fingertips like thick raindrops in a tropical storm. His left hand is completely covered in blood, and it's still seeping through the cracks of his meaty fingers.</p><p>Sally's own left arm is in the same state, except her whole arm is coated in multiple layers of sleek blood, wet on wet as her wound continues to bleed fiercely. The stab wound on her shoulder causes blood to run down the left side of her chest, coating the already sky blue tank top in a dark crimson.</p><p>Her opponent suddenly lunges forwards with no warning, easily catching Sally off guard. His bloodied left hand comes up and locks around her throat, effectively cutting off all airflow in one quick movement.</p><p>"I tried being nice," he growls, pulling Sally up off the ground so their faces are just inches apart. "I'm done messing around. I'm gonna fuck you right here and now. I'm gonna fuck you so hard until you split open from the inside out, then I'll shove my cock so far down your throat you can't breathe anymore. You're dead either way, fuckin' whore."</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Who's Beating Who Now</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Freedom Fighters are forced to retreat. Meanwhile, Team Dark settle down in a hotel after a long day of searching for their subject.</p>
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    <p>The only reply Sally can give is a choked gasp as she desperately claws at the arm holding her neck, her nails leaving shallow cuts in the process. Her legs kick out weakly beneath her. She's already feeling lightheaded, the pounding in her ears drowning out the battle around her. Adrenaline spikes uselessly through her body and she can feel drool slowly pooling at the corners of her open lips, mouth wide open as she struggles to suck in the air her lungs so desperately need.</p><p>Sally's stomach drops as she's suddenly slammed to the ground, her head connecting painfully with the debris below. The little air she had left is knocked from her struggling lungs, leaving her coughing and gasping desperately. A ringing flairs up in her ears, overtaking the pounding of her own heart as a new wave of panic runs through her veins. She can feel a wetness coating the back of her head.</p><p>She struggles as hard as she can to find any way of ever getting away from the man towering over her. Her mouth hangs open as she tries to suck in all the air she can. But her body is too weak to have any glimpse of a chance of possibly overthrowing her attacker. Her fingers are tingling and blackness has started to cloud the edges of her flickering vision as she tries desperately to stay conscious.</p><p>And then the steel grasp around her throat is gone, and she makes herself half sick with how fast she takes in the air her lungs have been screaming for. She tries to focus on the ground below her as she struggles to not hyperventilate from coughing.</p><p>"I love it when you struggle." A voice suddenly says, cutting through the panic in Sally's brain. Her opponent is above her, one meaty leg pressed uncomfortably in between her upper thighs, just inches away from being too close to-</p><p>"Oh yeah?" Sally cuts the thought off, trying to remain calm. Her voice is still raspy, and she lets out another airy cough, still obviously recovering from almost being strangled to death. But still, a smirk flashes on her face as she quickly brings her knee up, pulling it straight into the man's groin.</p><p>Her opponent lets out a strangled scream and throws his head back, and it's all Sally needs to get the upper hand. She reaches over, her fingers curling around the handle of the gun she had dropped when she had been lifted into the air.</p><p>Sally wastes no time with aiming the gun and pulling the trigger.</p><p>Blood rains down on her as a gurgled cry rises in his throat. Sally pushes his convulsing body to the side, chest heaving as she quickly sits up. She tries to control her shaky breathing as the emotions racing through her mind run rampant through the rest of her body. Her heart races too fast for her to keep track, her lungs still aching from the abuse put upon them, and she feels feint from the bloodloss of her left arm.</p><p><em>'I was almost...' </em>She can't string any full sentences together in her mind, but whether that's good or bad she doesn't know. She would rather not finish that thought as her eyes slowly trail over to the now limp corpse lying beside her shaking body.</p><p>Sure, she's fought worse battles than this, almost losing against many opponents in her time, but it had never been this severe. None of them has ever actively tried to force themselves on her like that before, and Sally can't help but wonder how many others that had happened to.</p><p>She had gotten lucky. Her attacker had become sloppy, driven by crazed rage and a strong lustful desire. He had left himself wide open for an attack on Sally's part. But she knows there had been others who have attacked her soldiers, others who had been way too smart to let themselves be caught off guard like that.</p><p>It makes her feel sick, so she wills her brain to try and take in the surroundings around her.</p><p>There are more humans than there are mobians. The Freedom Fighters are quickly being pushed back from where Sally had told the pumba to gather everyone in some sort of weak attempt at a wall. But that plan had backfired badly, and now she watches as one by one, her army falls, losing.</p><p><em>'We're fighting a losing battle.' </em>Sally thinks, her heart dropping heavily in her chest. <em>'What are they even fighting for, then? None of this matters if they're all just going to be slaughtered. Hell, </em>none <em>of this matters because they'll all </em>die <em>in the end. Either it's by being killed in battle or from old age, they'll die either way.'</em></p><p>Sally quickly shakes her head, desperately willing away the morbid thoughts sticking to her head like an ink stain on a white shirt. Where had those thoughts come from? She can't let herself think those, she's a commander. She has a whole <em>army </em>to command. How can she do that when she's busy moping around about people dying?</p><p>She slowly pushes herself up on shaking legs, clutching her gun tightly in her hands. She can't give up because there are so many relying on her to make the right choice, to win this war and save everyone. She can't give up because she can't let all those who have died, die in vain. She can't give up, because her father believes in her.</p><p>She sucks in a deep breath and stands taller, her shoulders broader. It only takes three seconds for her to find a clear path through the battle, and she takes it without a second thought. She swiftly shoots through the chaos, joining the Freedom Fighters at the front of the army.</p><p>"Fall back!" Sally screams over the noise, shooting her gun into the air three times. The signal to retreat that everyone had been taught. "Fall back! Carry the wounded! Get back to the base!"</p><p>Everyone immediately reacts. The humans all immediately try and cut off their retreat back in the direction of the forest, killing as many mobians off as possible. Sally does the best she can to ignore the desperate screaming as her soldiers fall all around her, quickly bleeding out.</p><p>She can see a flash above her and looks up to see Silver flying over the battle, the familiar cyan glow illuminating his body. She can see Whisper jumping from roof to roof of the buildings rising around them like trees, while Tangle uses her tail to catapult herself forward.</p><p>An inch of relief wiggles its way into the center of her heart as she words on rallying everyone together. At least her closest friends are safe and sound and don't look to have too many injuries. She can't say the same for herself, but at least she isn't dead.</p><p>Being mobians, they're way faster than humans, despite their exhaustion. They get to the treeline with a large distance between them and humans. It'll give them the extra few minutes they need to evacuate the whole base, which is what they desperately need.</p><p>She knows the humans will follow them back to base after retreating. It's happened too many times to count before. And she's learned from experience that once the humans get there, they won't even bat an eye as they start slaughtering every living, breathing thing in their path.</p><p>Sally is desperate to not let that happen. She is desperate to get everyone still living, out alive before the humans arrive. Sure, they'd lose a base, but they have others sprinkled throughout the entire <em>world</em>. They could also always build a new one at a later date when everything has calmed down.</p><p>They all rush through the forest, expertly dodging around trees and over the undergrowth. It doesn't take them long to get back to base, and thankfully they've lost sight of the humans, for now.</p><p>"Everyone to the ships!" Sally shouts at the top of her lungs over the panic when they flood into the base. "The humans will be here within five minutes! We need to leave before they get here!"</p><p>"Come on, move it!" Silver shouts as he lands beside Sally, doing his job as second in command to rally everyone up. "Help those who are too exhausted or injured to get there themselves! Make room, we only have two ships! Gather as many supplies as you can and treat the freshly wounded on the ship! There's no time to stall!"</p><p>Sally can spot others standing on the outsides of the large crowd, higher commanders helping. She can see Whisper and Tangle standing beside one another, Whisper looking more than uneasy with all the people around her, though Tangle's long tail is curled protectively behind the brown wolf as she shouts directions. Sally half wonders if the lemur's tail curling behind Whisper was intentional or not.</p><p>She can also spot the familiar orange-blonde fur of Bunny Rabbot, her green eyes blazing with determination, ears perked forward as she waves her mechanical arm. She shoots a quick wave to Sally before continuing with her task.</p><p>"Sally!" Silver suddenly exclaims beside the squirrel. She tears her eyes away from bunny to see Silver staring at her bleeding arm with wide eyes. "You're hurt!"</p><p>"It's nothing, Silver. I'll deal with it when everyone is safely on the ships." Sally replies, running a hand over her face as she sets her gun in her holster. "We're almost done anyway."</p><p>Silver frowns, eyebrows furrowing with concern. "You don't always have to be the strong one, Sally. I'm here too, you know. I can take over for you."</p><p>"True, I guess," Sally grumbles, holding her still bleeding arm as she looks away. "It's just...I don't want-I don't want to be seen as a failure."</p><p>"A failure?" Silver repeats, the frown growing. "When have you ever been-"</p><p>"Look at us, Silver!" Sally throws her arm out, gesturing to the exhausted forms of her soldiers trudging into the two ships. "We had to retreat another battle! Everyone's exhausted, our morale is at an all-time low...and...and I'm doing nothing to fix it. What kind of commander am I, just watching everyone die without trying to do anything to stop it?"</p><p>Silver is silent for a long while, looking unsure. Sally looks to the floor, biting the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from attacking her eyes. The guilt is almost too heavy for her to handle. All she wants to do is curl up somewhere, to shield herself from the rest of the world for just <em>five </em>minutes. To destress and return fresh to command the army once more. Is that too much to ask for?</p><p>"You're the only reason we're all still alive, Sally." Silver says, cutting through Sally's thoughts again. She looks back up at him to see a softness in his golden eyes, a tender smile on his muzzle. "You...you've gotten us through more battles than I can count. Sure, we've had a rough time here or there, but the only reason we've come so far is because of you. I couldn't have asked for a better commander than you, that's why I sought you out first when Amy had mentioned something about you."</p><p>Sally is speechless, for once in her life. Silver really felt that way about her? This time, she can't keep the tears from forming in her eyes as she gives a half chuckle. She uses the heel of her hand to wipe at one eye, saying, "don't give me all the credit, kid. You're a pretty great second commander."</p><p>"Thank you," Silver beams, scratching the back of his head with a light pink blush dusting his cheeks. Sally can't help but feel a warmness spread through her chest at the childish smile gracing Silver's muzzle. She can't help but return the smile with her own small one, sharp blue eyes melting into calm waters.</p><p>"Now, let's get the rest of these people on board and figure out where to head off to next."</p><p>"Right!"</p><hr/><p>The sky over the city looks sick as the sun sets in the distance, casting a dull scarlet behind black smoke clouds. Shadow stands atop one of the tallest buildings in the broken-down city, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he stares at what used to be Station Square.</p><p>Beside him stands Rouge, one hand on her hip as deep sadness blossoms in her teal eyes. Her pink lips are pursed in a frown, her large ears slightly lowered atop her head. Behind them stands Omega, his red glowing eyes examining the city as well.</p><p>"It's...gotten pretty bad." Rouge comments after a long stretch of tense silence. "I never realized..."</p><p>"Yeah." Comes Shadow's dry reply, a grimace on his face as he turns his crimson eyes away. The disappointment sits like a thick blanket of smog in his chest. They had found not even a hint of a clue as to where their target would've gone. The city had been too big to search through with just the three of them. They hadn't even covered half the ground before the sun had started to set on the horizon.</p><p>"It is advised to find shelter," Omega speaks, his robotic voice like the sound of reason through Shadow's dull thoughts.</p><p>"I agree with Omega. I'm exhausted." Rouge complains, shooting a tired toothy smile at Shadow. "Of course, you can keep searching if you'd like, seeing as you don't need sleep."</p><p>"Hmph. Let's just find a hotel to stay the night in, and then we'll keep searching for clues early in the morning."</p><p>"Sounds good to me." Rouge yawns, stretching her arms high over her head as she does so. "The sooner we get this mission over with, the faster I can get home to Alabaster."</p><p>Shadow has to hold himself back from giving an eye roll, but then again he can't judge Rouge for wanting to get back to her child. Mother instincts will forever be a mystery to him. He can't imagine anyone wanting to have a screaming bundle that can't even take care of itself.</p><p>"And Knuckles?" Shadow asks instead, raising an eye ridge at the white bat who has wandered towards the edge of the roof of which they're standing on.</p><p>"Oh, right. Him too, probably," Rouge jokes, shooting another toothy smile over her shoulder, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Come on, let's go before everything closes down for the night."</p><p>Shadow can't help but think back to the times when he had seen Alabaster as he follows his teammate through the city in search of a hotel. It had only been a few small times, most of which were just glimpses when he had stopped by Rouge's apartment to pick her up for a mission Team Dark had been assigned on.</p><p>One of the few times when he had actually <em>seen</em> Alabaster was when Rouge was still in the hospital after giving birth to him. It had been a day later. Shadow had wanted to be there the day that Rouge had given birth, something about support or whatnot, but he had been caught up on a mission.</p><p>Rouge had been holding a bundle of baby blue blankets when Shadow had walked into the sterile room. He remembers feeling extremely uncomfortable as he had approached the bed. It had only been him and Rouge in the room, then, seeing as it was late at night when visiting hours were just about up.</p><p>He remembers how bright Rouge's eyes had been, how happy she had looked. Happier than she's been in a long time. There had been a newfound tenderness in her movements since then, something that comes with motherhood if Shadow were to guess.</p><p>She had made him hold the bundled infant, much to Shadow's extreme discomfort. He's never really been around small children before, opting to stay away in fear he might hurt them by accident. He had seen Sonic many times before, holding the infants of fans he meets on the streets, cooing and rocking them like a natural.</p><p>The infant had been so <em>small </em>and delicate in Shadow's strong arms. He remembers having looked down at the tanned cheeks, pinkened as babies cheeks are always pink. The little nose, the curious bright teal eyes staring into Shadow's own blood-red ones. The delicate tuft of hair atop an ash gray head.</p><p>"Let's check this one out," Rouge suddenly says, stopping directly in front of Shadow. The hedgehog would've run into her had she not stepped inside the building, shooting Shadow an amused smile. "Lost in thought, Shadow?"</p><p>Shadow pointedly looks away, arms crossed over his arms once more as the group makes their way towards the front desk of the poorly lit lobby.</p><p>"Hello, room for two please," Rouge says, holding up two fingers as she says this, her other hand on her hip. There is a velvet smooth smile on her face, her eyes half-lidded as she stares at the young beaver behind the desk who looks more than flustered as his eyes lock on Rouge's chest that she sticks out all too obviously.</p><p>"R-right, of course!" He exclaims, scrambling to grab a key for the white bat. "That'll be, uh, that'll be sixty bucks."</p><p>"Seriously? For just one night?" Rouge asks, looking less than amused as she crosses her arms under her chest. She sticks her nose up in the air, looking as if someone had just insulted the whole race of bats. "Ridiculous."</p><p>"I-I'm so sorry, ma'am!" The bever exclaims, cheeks reddening with embarrassment, obviously not knowing how to handle this situation. Shadow only rolls his eyes as the young anthropomorph shoots a desperate look his way. "I-um, let me...I can give you a discount of twenty dollars, bringing the price down to forty, but that's all I can do."</p><p>Rouge sighs, turning her head to look back at the beaver once more. She leans forward, purposefully making it easy for someone to have the perfect top view of her busty chest. She sticks out her plump bottom lip, tapping a delicate finger against her chin. "Really? That's all? That's all you're willing to do for little ol' me?"</p><p>"Uh-um..."</p><p>"Come on, hon. I know you can do better than that." Rouge lowers the tone of her voice, sounding almost husky as she steps forward, leaning over on the counter with her chin resting on the back of a hand. Her eyes are half-lidded and there is an almost predatory glint in her teal eyes.</p><p>Shadow almost can't resist face-palming at the bat's antics. Although she's in a relationship, nothing changes. He'd like to see how Knuckles would react if the echidna were here right now. He'd probably lose his mind at the sight, though Shadow doesn't know if he would completely beat up the beaver or lecture Rouge on proper etiquette.</p><p>"Twenty dollars." The beaver's voice cracks and a predatory smile grows on Rouge's lips.</p><p>"Perfect."</p><p>This time, Shadow can't hold back from slapping his own forehead at Rouge's antics.</p>
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